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WELLESLEY COLLEGE

FROM THE FUND OF
EBEN NORTON HORSFORD

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SELECTED LETTERS OF
CATHERINE BENINCASA

SAINT CATHERINE

OF SIENA 1 AS SEEN
IN HER LETTERS %

TRANSLATED

& EDITED WITH

INTRODUCTION BY

VIDA D. SCUDDER

LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD.
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO

1911

First Edition . . . 1905
Reprinted . . . 1906-1911

BX H

PRINTED BV

WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LIMITED

PLYMOUTH

TO MY MOTHER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

22
29

Table of Persons Addressed ....

St. Catherine of Siena as seen in her letters .

Chief Events in the life of St. Catherine

Brief Outline of Contemporary Public Events

To Monna Alessa dei Saracini ,

To Benincasa her brother, when he was in Florence

To the Venerable Religious, Brother Antonio of Nizza . 32

To Monna Agnese, who was the wife of Messer Orso Malavolti 36

To Sister Eugenia, her niece at the Convent of St. Agnes of

Montepulciano ........ 45

To Nanna, daughter of Benincasa, a little maid, her niece . 53
Letters on the Consecrated Life . . > . . 57

To Brother William of England ... 60

To Daniella of Orvieto, clothed with the Habit of St.

Dominic ........ 66

To Monna Agnese, wife of Francesco, a tailor of Florence 71
Letters in response to certain criticisms . . . . 73

To Monna Orsa, wife of Bartolo Usimbardi, and to

Monna Agnese . .. . . . . 75

To a Religious man in Florence, who was shocked at her

Ascetic Practices ..... 77

To Brother Bartolomeo Dominici 79

To Brother Matteo di Francesco Tolomei . . . .83

To a Mantellata of Saint Dominic, called Catarina di Scetto . 90
To Neri di Landoccio dei Pagliaresi . . . „ 93

To Monna Giovanna and her other daughters in Siena . . 98

To Messer John, the Soldier of Fortune . . . .101

To Monna Colomba in Lucca . . . . . .104

To Brother Raimondo of Capua, of the Order of the Preachers 109

vi LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

PAGE
29

34
39
43
54
59
65
67

To Gregory XI ......

To Brother Raimondo of Capua, at Avignon

To Catarina of the Hospital, and Giovanna di Capo

To Sister Daniella of Orvieto ....

To Brother Raimondo of Capua, and to Master John III

To Sister Bartolomea della Seta .

To Gregory XI .

To the King of France .....

Letters to Florence ......

To the Eight of War chosen by the Commune of Florence 1 73

To Buonaccorso di Lapo : written when the Saint was at

Avignon . , . . . . . .176

To Gregory XI . . . . . . . .180

To Monna Lapa, her mother, before she returned from Avignon 186
To Monna Giovanna di Corrado Maconi . . . .189

To Messer Ristoro Canigiani . . . . . 194

To the Anziani and Consuls and Gonfalonieri of Bologna . 206
To Nicholas of Osimo . . . . . . .211

To Misser Lorenzo del Pino of Bologna, Doctor in Decretals 217
Letters written from Rocca D'Orcia . . . . .223

To Monna Lapa, her mother, and to Monna Cecca . 225

To Monna Catarina of the Hospital, and to Giovanna di

Capo . ....... 227

To Monna Alessa, clothed with the Habit of Saint Dominic 230
To Gregory XI . . . . . . . 233

To Raimondo of Capua . . . . . .236

To Urban VI ... .... 242

To her spiritual children in Siena . ... 248

To Brother William and to Messer Matteo of the Miseri-

cordia ....... 249

To Sano di Maco, and to all her other sons in Siena . 251

To Brother Raimondo of Capua . . . . . .256

To Urban VI ... ... 260

To Don Giovanni of the Cells of Vallombrosa . . . 264

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

PAGE

Letters announcing peace ..... .269

To Monna Alessa, when the Saint was at Florence . 270

To Sano di Maco, and to the other sons in Christ . . 272

To three Italian Cardinals . . . . . , .274

To Giovanna, Queen of Naples . . . . . .284

To Sister Daniella of Orvieto . . . . . .293

To Stefano Maconi 298

To certain holy hermits who had been invited to Rom^e by the

Pope ......... 306

To Brother William of England, and to Brother Antonio

of Nizza 308

To Brother Andrea of Lucca, Brother Baldo, and Brother

Lando . . . . . .310

To Brother Antonio of Nizza > . , . 313

To Queen Giovanna of Naples . . . . . .317

To Brother Raimondo of the Preaching Order, when he was in

Genoa .'....*... 323

To Urban. VI 333

Letters describing the experience preceding death . . '337
To Master Raimondo of Capua .... 342

To Master Raimondo of Capua, of the Order of the

Preachers B . , . . ■. . .346,

TABLE OF PERSONS ADDRESSED

Agnese, Morma, di Francesco
Andrea, Brother, of Lucca
Antonio, Brother, of Nizza

Baldo, Brother .
Bartolomea, Sister, della Seta
Bartolomeo, Brother, Dominici
Benincasa, Benincasa .
Benincasa, Eugenia
Benincasa, Monna Lapa
Benincasa, Nanna
Bologna, Anziani of .

Capo, Giovanna di
Canigiani, Ristoro
Cardinals, Three Italian
Catarina, of the Hospital
Cecca, Monna .
Colomba, Monna, of Lucca

Daniella, Sister, of Orvieto

France, the King of ,
Florence, Letters to .

Giovanna, Queen of Naples

Giovanni, Don, of the Cells of Vallombrosa .

Gregory XI. „ _ . . 115,124,

John, Messer, Soldier of Fortune

John III., Master ..,.,.

Lando, Brother » . a

Lapo, Buonaccorso di

PAGE

7h 75
. 310

2, 3°8> 313

■ 310

• 159

« 79
29

• 45

186, 225

■ 53
206

98, 139, 227

• 194

. 274

139, 227'
225
104

66, 143, 293

t 167

M 172

. 28^ 317

. 264

129, 105, 180, 233

101
154

. 310
176

x LETTERS OF CATHERINE

Maco, Sano di .

Maconi, Monna Giovanna di Corrado .

Maconi, Stefano

Malavolti, Monna Agnese .

Matteo, Messer, of the Misericordia

Osimo, Nicholas of

Pagliaresi, Neri di Landoccio dei
Pino, Lorenzo del

Raimondo, Brother, of Capua 109, 1 34, 1 54,
Religious, A, in Florence .

Saracini, Monna Alessa dei
Scetto, Catarina di

Tolomei, Brother Matteo di

Urban VI., Pope
Usimbardi, Monna Orsa

War, the Eight of

William, Brother, of England

BENINCASA

PAGE

251,

272

I89

. ■

298

•

36
249

•

211

•

217

236,2

i56>323j

342.

.34-6

•

25,

23°*

270

•

242,

260,

333

•

7S
173

» <

60,

249»

308

SELECTED LETTERS OF
CATHERINE BENINCASA

ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA AS
SEEN IN HER LETTERS

The letters of Catherine Benincasa, commonly known as St.
Catherine of Siena, have become an Italian classic ; yet perhaps
the first thing in them to strike a reader is their unliterary
character. He only will value them who cares to overhear the
impetuous outpourings of the heart and mind of an unlettered
daughter of the people, who was also, as it happened, a genius
and a saint. Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, the other great
writers of the Trecento, are all in one way or another intent
on choice expression ; Catherine is intent solely on driving
home what she has to say. Her letters were talked rather
than written. She learned to write only three years before
her death, and even after this time was in the habit of dictating
her correspondence, sometimes two or three letters at a time,
to the noble youths who served her as secretaries.

The modern listener to this eager talk may perhaps at first
feel wearied. Suffocated by words, repelled by frequent
crudity and confusion of metaphor, he may even be inclined
to call the thought childish and the tone overwrought. But
let him persevere. Let him read these letters as chapters in

2 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

an autobiography, noting purpose and circumstance, and read-
ing between the lines, as he may easily do, the experience of
the writer. Before long the very accents of a living woman
will reach his ears. He will hear her voice, now eagerly
pleading with friend or wrong-doer, now brooding tender as
a mother-bird over some fledgling soul, now broken with sobs
as she mourns over the sins of Church and world, and again
chanting high prophecy of restoration and renewal, or telling
in awestruck undertone sacred mysteries of the interior life.
Dante's Angel of Purity welcomes wayfarers upon the Pilgrim
Mount "in voce assai piu che la nostra, viva." The saintly
voice, like the angelic, is more living than our own. These
letters are charged with a vitality so intense that across the
centuries it draws us into the author's presence.

Imagination is inclined to see. the canonized saints as a row
of solemn figures, standing in dull monotony of worshipful
gesture, like Virgins and Confessors in an early mosaic. Yet,
as a matter of fact, people who have been canonized were to
their contemporaries the most striking personalities among
men and women striving for righteousness. They were all,
to be sure, very good ; but goodness, despite a curious preju-
dice to the contrary, admits more variety in type than wicked-
ness, and produces more interesting characters. Catherine
Benincasa was probably the most remarkable woman of the
fourteenth century, and her letters are the precious personal
record of her inner as of her outer life. With all their trans-
parent simplicity and mediaeval quaintness, with all the occa-
sional plebeian crudity of their phrasing, they reveal a nature
at once so many-sided and so exalted that the sensitive reader
can but echo the judgment of her countrymen, who see in the
dyer's daughter of Siena one of the most significant authors of
a great age.

LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

As is the case with many great letter-writers, though not
with all, Catherine reveals herself largely through her re-
lations with others. Some of her letters, indeed, are elabo-
rate religious or political treatises, and seem at first sight to
have little personal colouring ; yet even these yield their full
content of spiritual beauty and wisdom only when one knows
the circumstances that called them forth and the persons to
whom they were addressed. A mere glance at the index to
her correspondence shows how widely she was in touch with
her time. She was a woman of personal charm and of sym-
pathies passionately wide, and she gathered around her friends
and disciples from every social group in Italy, not to speak of
many connections formed with people in other lands. She
wrote to prisoners and outcasts ; to great nobles and plain
business men ; to physicians, lawyers, soldiers of fortune ;
to kings and queens and cardinals and popes ; to recluses
pursuing the Beatific Vision, and to men and women of the
world plunged in the lusts of the flesh and governed by the
pride of life. The society of the fourteenth century passes
in review as we turn the pages.

Catherine wrote to all these people in the same simple spirit.
With one and all she was at home, for all were to her, by no
merely formal phrase, " dearest brothers and sisters in Christ
Jesus." One knows not whether to be more struck by the
outspoken fearlessness of the woman or by her great adapta-
bility. She could handle with plain directness the crudest
sins of her age ; she could also treat with subtle insight the
most elusive phases of spiritual experience. No greater dis-
tance can be imagined than that which separates the young
Dominican with her eyes full of visions from a man like Sir
John Hawkwood, reckless free-lance, selling his sword with

4 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

light-hearted zeal to the highest bidder, and battening on the
disorder of the times. Catherine writes to him with gentlest
assumption of fellowship, seizes on his natural passions and
tastes, and seeks to sanctify the military life of his affections.
With her sister nuns the method changes. She gives free
play to her delicate fancy, drawing her metaphors from the
beauty of nature, from tender, homely things, from the gentle
arts and instincts of womanhood. Does she speak to Pope
Gregory, the timid ? Her words are a trumpet-call. To the
harsh Urban, his successor ? With finest tact she urges self-
restraint and a policy of moderation. Temperaments of every
type are to be met in her pages — a sensitive poet, troubled by
" confusion of thought " deepening into melancholia ; a harum-
scarum boy, in whose sunny joyousness she discerns the germ
of supernatural grace ; vehement sinners, fearful saints, re-
ligious recluses deceived by self-righteousness, and men of
affairs devoutly faithful to sober duty. Catherine enters into
every consciousness. As a rule we associate with very pure
and spiritual women, even if not cloistered, a certain deficient
sense of reality. We cherish them, and shield them from
harsh contact with the world, lest the fine flower of their
delicacy be withered. But no one seems to have felt in this
way about Catherine. Her "love for souls" was no cold
electric illumination such as we sometimes feel the- phrase to
imply, but a warm understanding tenderness for actual men
and women. It would be hard to exaggerate her knowledge
of the world and of human hearts.

Yet sometimes Catherine appears to us austere and exacting ;
unsparing in condemnation, and unrelenting in her demands on
those she loves. Many of her letters are in a strain of ex-
hortation that rises into rebujce. The impression at first is
unpleasant. We are tempted to feel this unfailing candour
captious ; to resent the note of authority, equally clear
whether she write to Pope or Cardinal ; to suspect Catherine,

LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA 5

in a word, of assuming that very judicial attitude which she
constantly deprecates as unbecoming to us poor mortals. And
perhaps the very frequency of her plea for tolerance and for-
bearance suggests a conscious weakness. Like most brilliant
and ardent people, she was probably by nature of a critical
and impatient disposition ; she was, moreover, a plebeian. At
times, when she is quite sure that men are on the side of the
devil, she allows her instinctive frankness full scope ; it must
be allowed that the result is astounding. Yet even as we
catch our breath we realise that her remarks were probably
justified. It is hard for us moderns to remember how crudely
hideous were the sins which she faced. In these days, when
we are all reduced to one apparent level of moral respect-
ability, and great saintliness and dramatic guilt are alike
seldom conspicuous, we forget the violent contrasts of the
middle ages. Pure " Religious," striving after the exalted
perfection enjoined by the Counsels, moved habitually among
moral atrocities, and bold vigour of speech was a practical
duty. Catherine handled without evasion the grossest evils
of her time, and the spell which she exercised by simple
force of direct dealing was nothing less than extraordinary.

It is easy to see why Catherine's plain speaking was not
resented. She rarely begins with rebuke. The note of
humility is first struck ; she is always " servant and slave
of the servants of Jesus Christ." Thence she frequently
passes into fervent meditation on some special theme : the
exceeding wonder of the Divine Love, the duty of prayer,
the nature of obedience. We are lifted above the world into
a region of heavenly light and sweetness, when suddenly — a
blow from the shoulder ! — a startling sense of return to
earth. From the contemplation of the beauty of holiness,
Catherine has swiftly turned us to face the opposing sin.
" Thou art the man ! " A few trenchant sentences, charged
with pain, and the soul which has been raised to celestial

6 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

places awakes to see in itself the contradiction of all that is
so lovely. Into the region of darkness Catherine goes with
it. It is not " thou " but "we" who have sinned. She holds
that sinful heart so near her own that the beatings are con-
founded; her words now and again express a shuddering
personal remorse for sins of which she could have had no
personal knowledge. Her sense of unity with her fellow-
men lies deeper than any theory of brotherhood j she feels
herself in sober truth guilty of the sins of her brothers : her
experience illustrates the profound truth that only purity can
know perfect penitence.

Catherine is then saved from any touch of Pharisaism by
her remarkable identification of herself with the person to
whom she writes. But to understand her attitude we must
go further. For she never pauses in reprobation of evil.
Full of conviction that the soul needs only to recognise its sin
to hate and escape it for ever, she passes swiftly on to im-
passioned appeal. Her words breathe a confidence in men
that never fails even when she is writing to the most hardened.
She succeeded to a rare degree in the difficult conciliation of
uncompromising hatred toward sin with unstrained fellowship
with the sinner, and invincible trust in his responsiveness to
the appeal of virtue. When we consider the times in which
she lived, this large and touching trustfulness becomes to our
eyes a victory of faith. That it was no mere instinct, but an
attitude resolutely adopted and maintained, is evident from her
frequent discussions of charity and tolerance, some of which
will be found in these selections. She constantly urges her
disciples to put the highest possible construction on their
neighbours' actions j nor is any phase of her teaching more
constantly repeated than the beautiful application of the text :
" In My Father's House are many mansions," to enjoin
recognition of the varieties in temperament and character and
practice which may coexist in the House of God.

LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA 7

Catherine had learned a hard lesson. She saw in human ^~
beings not their achievements, but their possibilities. There-
fore she quickened repentance by a positive method, not by
morbid analysis of evil, not by lurid pictures of the conse-
quences of sin, but by filling the soul with glowing visions
^of that holiness which to see is to long for. She never
despaired of quickening in even the most degraded that flame
of " holy desire " which is the earnest of true holiness to be.
We find her impatient of mint and cummin, of over-anxious
self-scrutiny. " Strive that your holy desires increase," she
writes to a correspondent ; " and let all these other things
j alone." "I, Catherine — write to you— with desire" : so open
i all her letters. Holy Desire ! It is not only the watchword
^of her teaching : it is also the true key to her personality.

Ill

"We have dwelt on Catherine, the friend and guide of souls ;
but it is Catherine the mystic, Catherine the friend of God,
before whom the ages bend in reverence. The final value of
her letters lies in their revelation, not of her dealings with
other souls, but of God's dealings with her own.

But in presence of the record of these deep experiences,
silence is better than words : is, indeed, for most of us the
only possible attitude. The letters that follow must speak for
themselves. The clarity of mind which Catherine always
preserved, even in moments of highest exaltation, and her
loving eagerness to share her most sacred experiences with
those dear to her, have given her a power of expression that
has produced pages of unsurpassed interest and value, alike
for the psychologist and for the believer. Moreover — and
this we .well may note — her letters enable us to apprehend
with singularly happy intimacy, the natural character and
disposition of her whom these high things befell. In the very

8 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

cadence of their impetuous phrasing, in their swift dramatic
changes, in their marvellous blending of sweetness and virility,
they show us the woman. Some of them, especially those to
her family and friends, are of almost childlike simplicity and
homely charm ; others, among the most famous of their kind,
deal with mystical, or if we choose so to put it, with super-
natural experience : in all alike, we feel a heart akin to our
own, though larger and more tender.

The central fact in Catherine's nature was her rapt and
absolute perception of the Love of God, as the supreme reality
in the universe. This Love, as manifested in creation, in
redemption, and in the sacrament of the Altar, is the theme of
her constant meditations. One little phrase, charged with a
lyric poignancy, sings itself again and again, enlightening her
more sober prose : " For nails would not have held God-and-
Man fast to the Cross, had love not held Him there." Her
conceptions are positive, not negative, and joyous adoration is
the substance of her faith.

But the letters show us that this faith was not won nor kept
without sharp struggle. We have in them no presentation of
a calm spirit, established on tranquil heights of unchanging
vision, above our "mortal moral strife." Catherine is, as we
can see, a woman of many moods — very sensitive, very loving.
She shows a touching dependence on those she loves, and an
inveterate habit of idealising them, which leads to frequent
disillusion. She is extremely eager and intense about little
things as well as great j hers is a truly feminine seriousness
over the detail of living. She is keenly and humanly interested
in life on this earth, differing in this respect from some
canonized persons who seem always to be enduring \tfaute dc
mieux. And, as happens to all sensitive people who refuse to
seclude themselves in dreams, life went hard with her. Hers
was a frail and suffering body, and a tossed and troubled
spirit ; wounded in the house of her friends, beset by problem,

LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA 9

shaken with doubt and fear by the spectacle presented to her
by the world and the Church of Christ. The letters tell us
how these, her sorrows and temptations, were not separated
from the life of faith, but a true portion of it : how she
carried them into the Divine Presence, and what high re-
assurance awaited her there. Ordinary mortals are inclined
to think that supernatural experience removes the saints to a
perplexing distance. In Catherine's case, however, we become
aware as we study the record that it brings her nearer us.
For these experiences, far from being independent of her
outer life, are in closest relation with it ; even the highest and
most mysterious, even those in which the symbolism seems
most remote from the modern mind, can be translated by the
psychologist without difficulty into modern terms. They
spring from the problems of her active life ; they bring her
renewed strength and wisdom for her practical duties. An
age, which like our own places peculiar emphasis and value on
the type of sanctity which promptly expresses itself through
the deed, should feel for Catherine Benincasa an especial
honour. She is one of the purest of Contemplatives ; she
knows, what we to-day too often forget, that the task is ,
impossible without the vision. But it follows directly upon
the vision, and this great mediseval mystic is one of the most
efficient characters of her age.

Catherine's soaring imagination lifted her above the circle
of purely personal interests, and made her a force of which
history is cognisant in the public affairs of her day. She is
one of a' very small number of women who have exerted the
influence of a statesman by virtue, not of feminine attractions,
but of conviction and intellectual power. It is impossible to

io LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

understand her letters without some recognition of the public
drama of the time.

Two great ideals of unity — one Roman, one Christian in
origin — had possessed the middle ages. In the strength of
them the wandering barbaric hordes had been reduced to
order, and Western Europe had been trained into some per-
ception of human fellowship. Of these two unifying forces,
the imperialistic ideal was moribund in Catherine's time : not
even a Dante, born fifty years after his true date, could have
held to it. Remained the ideal of the Church universal, and
to this last hope of a peaceful commonwealth that should
include all humanity, the idealists clung in desperation.

But alas for the faith of idealists when fact gives theory the
lie ! What at this time was the unity of mankind in the
Church but a formal hypothesis ? The keystone of her all-
embracing arch was the Papacy. But the Pope no longer sat
heir of the Caesars in the seat of the Apostles ; for seventy
years he had been a practical dependant of the French king,
living in pleasant Provence. Neither the scorn of Dante, nor
the eloquence of Petrarch, nor the warnings of holy men, had
prevailed on the popes to return to Italy, and make an end of
the crying scandal which was the evident contradiction of the
Christian dream. Meantime, the city of the Caesars lay waste
and wild; the clergy was corrupt almost past belief; the
dreaded Turk was gathering his forces, a menace to
Christendom itself. The times were indeed evil, and the
" servants of God," of whom then, as now, there were no in-
considerable number, withdrew for the most part into spiritual
or literal seclusion, and in the quietude of cloister or forest
cell busied themselves with the concerns of their own
souls.

Not so Catherine Benincasa. She had known that tempta-
tion and conquered it. After her reception as a Dominican
Tertiary, she had possessed the extraordinary resolution to

LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA n

live for three years the recluse life, not in the guarded peace
of a convent, but in her own room at home, in the noisy and
overcrowded house where a goodly number of her twenty-
four brothers and sisters were apparently still living. And
these had been years of inestimable preciousness ; but they
came to an end at the command of God, speaking through
the constraining impulse of her love for men. From the
mystical retirement in which she had long lived alone with
her Beloved, she emerged into the world. And the remark-
able fact is that in no respect did she blench from the
situation as she found it. She "faced life steadily and faced
it whole." A Europe ravaged by dissensions lay before her ;
a Church which gave the lie to its lofty theories, no less by
the hateful worldliness of its prelates than by its indifferent
abandonment of the Seat of Peter. Above this sorry spectacle
the mind of Catherine soared straight into an upper region,
where only the greatest minds of the day were her comrades.
Her fellow-citizens were unable to entertain the idea even of
civic peace within the limits of their own town ; but patriotic
devotion to all Italy fired her great heart. More than this —
her instinct for solidarity forced her to dwell in the thought
of a world-embracing brotherhood. Her hopes were centred,
not like Dante's in the Emperor the heir of the Caesars, but
in the Pope the heir of Christ. Despite the corruption from
which she recoiled with horror, despite the Babylonian
captivity at Avignon, she saw in the Catholic Church that
image of a pure universal fellowship which the noblest
Catholics of all ages have cherished. To the service of the
Church, t herefore, her life was dedicated ; it was to her the
Holy House of Reconciliation, wherein all nations should
dwell in unity ; and only by submission to its authority could
the woes of Italy be healed.

Catherine's letters on public affairs — historical documents
of recognised importance — give us her practical programme>

12 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

It was formed in the light of that faith which she always
describes as " the eye of the mind." She was called during
her brief years of political activity to meet three chief issues :
the absence of the Pope from Italy ; the rebellion of the
Tuscan cities, headed by Florence, against his authority ; and
at a later time the great Schism, which broke forth under
Urban VI. During her last five years she was absorbed in
ecclesiastical affairs. In certain of her immediate aims she
succeeded, in others she failed. It would be hard to say
whether her success or her failure involved the greater
tragedy. For behind all these aims was a larger ideal that
was not to be realised — the dream, entertained as passionately
by Catherine Benincasa as by Savonarola or by Luther, of
thorough Church-reform. Catherine at Avignon, pleading
this great cause in the frivolous culture and dainty pomp of
the place ; Catherine at Rome, defending to her last breath
the legal rights of a Pope whom she could hardly have
honoured, and whose claims she saw defended by extremely
doubtful means — is a figure as pathetic as heroic. Few
sorrows are keener than to work with all one's energies to
attain a visible end for the sake of a spiritual result, and,
attaining that end, to find the result as far as ever. This
sorrow was Catherine's. The external successes which she
won — considerable enough to secure her a place in history —
availed nothing to forward the greater aim for which she
worked. Gregory XL, under her magnetic inspiration,
gathered strength, indeed, to make a personal sacrifice and
to return to Rome, but he was of no calibre to attempt
radical reform, and his residence in Italy did nothing to right
the crying abuses that were breaking Christian hearts. His
successor, on the other hand, did really initiate the reform of
the clergy, but so drastic and unwise were his methods that
the result was terrible and disconcerting — the development of
a situation of which only the Catholic idealist could discern

LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA 13

the full irony -, no less than Schism, the rending of the
Seamless Robe of Christ.

With failing hopes and increasing experience of the com-
plexity of human struggle, Catherine clung to her aim until
the end. There was no touch of pusillanimity in her heroic
spirit. As with deep respect we follow the Letters of the
last two years, and note their unflagging alertness and vigour,
their steady tone of devotion and self-control, we realise that
to tragedy her spirit was dedicate. Her energy of mind was
constantly on the increase. Still, it is true, she wrote to
disciples near and far long, tender letters of spiritual counsel —
analyses of the religious life tranquilly penetrating as those of
an earlier time. But her political correspondence grew in
bulk. It is tense, nervous, virile. It breathes a vibrating
passion, a solemn force, that are the index of a breaking
heart. Not for one moment did Catherine relax her energies.
From 1376, when she went to Avignon, she led, with one
or two brief intermissions only, the life of a busy woman of
affairs. But within this outer life of strenuous and, as a rule,
thwarted activities, another life went on — a life in which
failure could not be, since through failure is wrought re- ■
demption.

From the days of her stigmatization, which occurred in
1375 at Pisa, Catherine had been convinced that in some
special sense she was to share in the Passion of Christ, and
offer herself a sacrifice for the sins of Holy Church. Now
this conception deepened till it became all-absorbing. In full
consciousness of failing vital powers, in expectation of her
approaching death, she offered her sufferings of mind and
body as an expiation for the sins around her. By word of
mouth and by letters of heartbroken intensity she summoned
all dear to her to join in this holy offering. Catherine's faith
is alien to these latter days. Yet the psychical unity of the
race is becoming matter not only of emotional intuition, but

i4 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

established scientific fact : and no modern sociologist, no
psychologist who realizes how unknown in origin and how
intimate in interpenetration are the forces that control our
destiny, can afford to scoff at her. She had longed in-
expressibly for outward martyrdom. This was not for her,
yet none the less really did she lay down her life on the Altar
of Sacrifice. The evils of the time, and above all of the
Church, had generated a sense of unbearable sin in her pure
spirit ; her constant instinct to identify herself with the guilt
of others found in this final offering an august climax and
fulfilment.

During the last months of her life — months of excruciating
physical sufferings, vividly described for us by her contem-
poraries— the woman's rectitude and wisdom, her swift tender
sympathies, were still, as ever, at the disposal of all who
sought them. With unswerving energy she still laboured for
the cause of truth. When we consider the conditions, spiritual
and physical, of those last months, we read with amazement
the able, clearly conceived, practical letters which she was
despatching to the many European potentates whom she was
endeavouring to hold true to the cause of Urban. But her
spirit in the meantime dwelt in the region of the Eternal,
where the dolorous struggle of the times appeared, indeed,
but appeared in its essential significance as seen by angelic
intelligences. The awe-struck letters to Fra Raimondo, her
Confessor, with which this selection closes, are an accurate
transcript of her inner experience. They constitute, surely,
a precious heritage of the Church for which her life was
given. Catherine Benincasa died heartbroken ; yet in the
depths of her consciousness was joy, for God had revealed to
her that His Bride the Church, " which brings life to men,"
" holds in herself such life that no man can kill her.'
" Sweetest My daughter, thou seest how she has soiled her
face with impurity and self-love, and grown puffed up by the

LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA 15

pride and avarice of those who feed at her bosom. But take
thy tears and sweats, drawing them from the fountain of My
divine charity, and cleanse her face. For. I promise thee that
her beauty shall not be restored to her by the sword, nor
by cruelty nor war, but by peace, and by humble continual
prayer, tears, and sweats poured forth from the grieving
desires of My servants. So thy desire shall be fulfilled in
long abiding, and My Providence shall in no wise fail."

Psychologically, as in point of time, St. Catherine stands
between St. Francis and St. Teresa. Her writings are of the
middle ages, not of the renascence, but they express the
twilight of the mediaeval day. They reveal the struggles and
the spiritual achievement of a woman who lived in the last
age of an undivided Christendom, and whose whole life was
absorbed in the special problems of her time. These prob-
lems, however, are in the deepest sense perpetual, and her
attitude toward them is suggestive still.

It has been claimed that Catherine, a century and a half
later, would have been a Protestant. Such hypotheses are
always futile to discuss j but the view hardly commends itself
to the careful student of her writings. It is suggested,
naturally enough, by her denunciations of the corruptions of
the Church, denunciations as sweeping and penetrating as
were ever uttered by Luther ; by her amazingly sharp and
outspoken criticism of the popes ; and by her constant plea
for reform. The pungency of all these elements in her
writings is felt by the most casual reader. But it must never
be forgotten that honest and vigorous criticism of the Church
Visible is, in the mind of the Catholic philosopher, entirely
consistent with loyalty to the sacerdotal theory. There is a

16 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

noble idealism that breaks in fine impatience with tradition,
and audaciously seeks new symbols wherein to suggest for
a season the eternal and imageless truth. But perhaps yet
nobler in the sight of God — surely more conformed to His
methods in nature and history — is that other idealism which
patiently bows to the yoke of the actual, and endures the
agony of keeping true at once to the heavenly vision and to
the imperfect earthly form. Iconoclastic zeal against outworn
or corrupt institutions fires our facile enthusiasm. Let us
recognize also the spiritual passion that suffers unflinchingly
the disparity between the sign and the thing signified, and
devotes its energies, not to discarding, but to restoring and
purifying that sign. Such passion was Catherine's. The most
distinctive trait in the woman's character was her power to
cling to an ideal verity with unfaltering faithfulness, even
when the whole aspect of life and society around her seemed
to give that verity the lie. To imagine her without faith in
the visible Church and the God-given authority of the Vicar
of Christ is to imagine another woman. Catherine of Siena's
place in the history of minds is with Savonarola, not with
Luther.

Catherine confronted a humanity at enmity with itself, a
Church conformed to the image of this world. Her external
policy proved helpless to right these evils. The return of the
Popes from Avignon resulted neither in the pacification of
Christendom nor in the reform of the Church. The Great
Schism, of which she saw the beginning, undermined the idea
of Christian unity till the thought of the Saint of Siena was
in natural sequence followed by the thought of Luther. Out-
wardly her life was spent in labouring for a hopeless cause,
discredited by the subsequent movement of history. But the
material tragedy was a spiritual triumph, not only through the
victory of faith in her own soul, but through the value of
the witness which she bore. Neither of the great conceptions

LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA 17

of unity which possessed the middle ages was identical with
the modern democratic conception ; yet both, and in particular
that of the Church, pointed in this direction. That ideal of
world-embracing brotherhood to which men have been slowly
awakening throughout the Christian centuries was the domi-
nant ideal of Catherine's mind. She hoped for the attainment
of such a brotherhood through the instrument of an organized
Christendom, reduced to peace and unity under one God-
appointed Head. History, as some of us think, has rejected
the noble dream. We seem to see that the undying hope of
the human spirit — a society shaped by justice and love — is
never likely to be gained along the lines of the centralization
of ecclesiastical power. But if our idea of the means has
changed, the same end still shines before us. The vision of ^\
human fellowship in the Name of Christ, for which Catherine
lived and died, remains the one hope for the healing of the
nations.

BRIEF OUTLINE OF CONTEMPORARY
PUBLIC EVENTS

1368— 1369. Political Revolution in Siena. The com-
promise government of the Riformatori is established. The
Emperor Charles IV. is summoned to the city by the party
worsted in the Revolution, joined by certain nobles. He
arrives in January, '60, but is forced to withdraw by a popular
rising. The nobles are excluded from the chief power and
ravaged by feuds among themselves.

1372. Gregory XL declares war against Bernabo Visconti
of Milan, and takes into his pay the English free-lance, Sir
John Hawkwood. Peter d'Estaing, appointed Legate of
Bologna, makes truce with Bernabo. The latter, however,
continues secretly to incite Tuscany to rebel against the Pope,
inflaming the indignation of the Tuscans at the arbitrary policy
of the Papal Legates, and in particular of the Nuncio, Gerard
du Puy, who is supporting the claims of those turbulent nobles,
the Salimbeni, in Siena. Catherine is in correspondence with
both d'Estaing and Du Puy. On April 22nd, Gregory, in full
consistory, announces his intention of returning to Rome.

1373. Italy is devastated by petty strife: "It seems as
if a planet reigned at this time which produced in the world
the following effects : That the Brothers of St. Austin killed
their Provincial at Sant' Antonio with a knife ; and in Siena
was much fighting. At Assisi the Brothers Minor fought,
and killed fourteen with a knife. And those of the Rose
fought, and drove six away. Also, those of Certosa had

CONTEMPORARY PUBLIC EVENTS 19

great dissensions, and their General came and changed them
all about. So all Religious everywhere seemed to have strife
and dissension among themselves. And every Religious of
whatever rule was oppressed and insulted by the world. So
with brothers according to the flesh — cousins, wives, relatives,
and neighbours. It seems that there were divisions all over
the whole world. In Siena, loyalty was neither proposed
nor observed, gentlemen did not show it among themselves
nor outside, nor did the Nine among themselves or with
outside persons, nor did the Twelve. The people did not
agree with their own leader, nor exactly with any one else.
Thus all the world was a place of shadows."

— Chronicle of Neri di Donato.

A Crusade publicly proclaimed by the Pope.

1374. Plague and famine lay Tuscany waste. William of
Noellet, the Papal Legate, refuses to allow corn to be imported
into Tuscany from the Papal States. Hawkwood, probably
at his instigation, ravages the country, and even threatens the
city of Florence. Florence, enraged, rebels against the Pope,
and appoints from the ranks of the Ghibellines a new body of
Magistrates, known as the Eight of War. Meantime, Cione
de' Salimbeni is raiding the country around Siena. The roads
through the Maremma are insecure for peaceable folk, and the
peasants are driven to take refuge in the plague-stricken town.

1375. Eighty Italian cities join a League, headed by
Florence, against the Pope, with the watchword, " Fling off
the foreign yoke."

1376. Gregory despatches ambassadors to the Eight of
War, who scorn his proposals. Florence incites Bologna to
revolt, and the Legate flees. The Papal Nuncio is flayed
alive in the streets of Florence. The city is placed under an
Interdict. Envoys are despatched to Avignon, who set forth

20 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

eloquently, but to no avail, the grievances of the city. War
is declared against Florence by the Pope, and Count Robert
of Geneva, with an army of free-lances, is sent into Italy.
Count Robert, laying waste the territory of Bologna, summons
Hawkwood to his aid, and perpetrates the hideous massacre
of Cesena. Catherine, sent to Avignon, fails to procure peace.
Gregory, swayed by her representations, returns to Italy, and
reaches Rome, after a difficult journey, on January 17th, 1377*

1378. Gregory, exhausted and disappointed by the con-
tinued discords in Italy, dies in March. The Archbishop of
Bari, known as Urban VI., is appointed his successor. In July,
peace is made with Florence, and the Interdict upon the city
is raised. The harsh measures of Urban in dealing with the
clergy arouse violent antagonism. In June, the Cardinals begin
to circulate rumours challenging the validity of the election,
and on September 20th they formally announce that the election
was invalid, having been forced on them by fear, and appoint
as Pope the Cardinal Robert of Geneva, who takes the name
of Clement VII.

1 3 79-1 380. The Great Schism divides Europe. England
remains faithful to Urban : France and Naples, after wavering,
declare for Clement. "War rages between the two Popes.
The schismatic forces gain possession of the Castle of Saint
Angelo at Rome, but are driven out by the forces of Urban,
who in gratitude marches barefoot in solemn procession from
Santa Maria in Trastevere, to St. Peter's. The city, however,
later revolts against Urban, but is reconciled to him, partly
through the efforts of Catherine. Queen Giovanna of Naples,
having conspired against Urban's life, is excommunicated.

CHIEF EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF
SAINT CATHERINE

1347. On March 25th, Catherine, and a twin-sister who
dies at once, are born in the Strada dell' Oca, near the fountain
of Fontebranda, Siena. She is the youngest of the twenty-
five children of Jacopo Benincasa, a dyer, and Lapa, his wife.

1353-4. As a child, Catherine is peculiarly joyous and
charming. "When six years old she beholds the vision of
Christ, arrayed in priestly robes, above the Church of St.
Dominic. She is inspired by a longing to imitate the life of
the Fathers of the desert, and begins to practise many
penances. At the age of seven she makes the vow of
virginity. She is drawn to the Order of St. Dominic by the
zeal of its founder for the salvation of souls.

1 359-1 363. Her ascetic practices meet with sharp opposi-
tion at home. She is urged to array herself beautifully and
to marry, is denied a private chamber, and forced to perform
the menial work of the household, etc. In time, however,
her perseverance wins the consent of her father and family
to her desires.

1 363-1 364. She is vested with the black and white habit
of Saint Dominic, becoming one of the Mantellate, or
Dominican tertiaries, devout women who lived under religious
rule in their own homes.

1 364-1 367. She leads in her own room at home the life
of a religious recluse, speaking only to her Confessor. She

12 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

is absorbed in mystical experiences and religious meditation.
During this time she learns to read. The period closes with
her espousals to Christ, on the last day of Carnival, 1 367.

1367-1370. In obedience to the commands of God, and
impelled by her love of men, she returns gradually to family
and social life. From this time dates her special devotion to
the Blessed Sacrament. She joyfully devotes herself to house-
hold labours, and to a life of ministration to the sick and
needy. In 1 368 her father dies, and the Revolution puts an
end to the prosperity of the Benincasa family, which is now
broken up. Catherine seems to have retained to the end the
care of Monna Lapa. In 1 3 70 she dies mystically and returns
to life, having received the command to go abroad into the
world to save souls.

1 370-1374. Her reputation and influence increase. A
group of disciples gathers around her. Her correspondence
gradually becomes extensive, and she becomes known as a
peacemaker. At the same time, her ecstasies and unusual
mode of life excite criticism and suspicion. In May,
1374, she visits Florence, perhaps summoned thither to
answer charges made against her by certain in the Order.
She returns to Siena to minister to the plague-stricken. She
meets at this time Fra Raimondo of Capua, her Confessor and
biographer. Her gradual induction into public affairs is accom-
panied by growing sorrow over the corruptions of the Church.

1375. At the invitation of Pietro Gambacorta, Catherine
visits Pisa. Her object is to prevent Pisa and Lucca from
joining the League of Tuscan cities against the Pope. She
meets the Ambassador from the Queen of Cyprus, and
zealously undertakes to further the cause of a Crusade. On
April 1st she receives the Stigmata in the Church of Santa
Cristina; but the marks, at her request, remain invisible.
She prophesies the Great Schism. A brief visit to Lucca.

CHIEF EVENTS IN HER LIFE 23

1376. Catherine receives Stefano Maconi as a disciple,
and at his instance reconciles the feud between the Maconi
and the Tolomei. She attempts by correspondence to recon-
cile Pope Gregory XI. and the Florentines. On April 1st the
Divine Commission to bear the olive to both disputants is
given her in a vision. In May, at the request of the Floren-
tines, she goes to Florence. Sent as their representative to
Avignon, she reaches that city on June 1 8th. Gregory en-
trusts her with the negotiations for peace. The Florentine
ambassadors, however, delay their coming, and when they
come refuse to ratify her powers. Thwarted in this direc-
tion, she devotes all her efforts to persuading the Pope to
return to Rome, and triumphing over all obstacles, succeeds.
She leaves for home on September 13th, but is retained for a
month in Genoa, at the house of Madonna Orietta Scotta.
After a short visit at Pisa, she reaches Siena in December or
January.

1377. Catherine converts the castle of Belcaro, conveyed
to her by its owner, into a monastery. She visits the Salim-
beni in their feudal castle at Rocca D'Orcia, for the purpose
of healing their family feuds. While here she learns miracu-
lously to write. She also visits Sant' Antimo and Monte-
pulciano.

1378. Gregory, in failing health, perhaps regretting his
return, becomes alienated from Catherine. He sends her,
however, to Florence, where she stays in a house built for her
by Niccolo Soderini, at the foot of the hill of St. George.
She succeeds in causing the Interdict to be respected, but
almost loses her life in a popular tumult, and keenly regrets
not having won the crown of martyrdom. After the death of
Gregory, and the establishment of the longed-for peace by
Pope Urban, Catherine returns to Siena, where she devotes
herself to composing her "Dialogue." After the outbreak

24 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

of the Schism, Urban, whom she had known at Avignon,
summons her to Rome. She reluctantly obeys, and takes up
her abode in that city on November 28th, accompanied by a
large group of disciples, her " Famiglia," who live together,
subsisting on alms. From this time Catherine devotes her
whole powers to the cause of Urban. She is his trusted
adviser, and seeks earnestly to curb his impatient temper on
the one hand, and to keep the sovereigns of Europe faithful
to him on the other. She writes on his behalf to the Kings
of France and Hungary, to Oueen Giovanna of Naples, to the
magistrates of Italian cities, to the Italian cardinals who have
joined the Schism, and to others. Fra Raimondo, despatched
to France, to her grief and exaltation, evades his mission
through timidity, to her bitter disappointment, but does not
return to Rome till after her death. Catherine's health,
always fragile, gives way under her unremitting labours and
her great sorrows.

1380. Catherine succeeds in quieting the revolt of the
Romans against Urban. She dedicates herself as a sacrificial
victim, in expiation of the sins of the Church and of the
Roman people. In vision at St. Peter's, on Sexagesima Sun-
day, the burden of the Ship of the Church descends upon her
shoulders. Her physical sufferings increase, and on April 30th
she dies, in the presence of her disciples.

LETTERS

TO MONNA ALESSA DEI SARACINI

The young widow of noble family to whom this letter was
written was the most cherished among Catherine's women
friends. She seems, as often happens with the chosen com-
panion of a fervent and powerful nature, to have been a
person simple, lovable, and quietly wise. Having after her
husband's death assumed the habit of St. Dominic, she dis-
tributed her possessions to the poor by Catherine's advice, but
she evidently retained her home in Siena. This became a
constant refuge for the saint from the overcrowded Benincasa
household, and the scene of more than one charming episode
in her life as told by the legend. For the Mantellate, or
tertiaries of St. Dominic, were not cloistered, nor did they
take the monastic vows ; they simply lived in their own homes
a life of special devotion.

To Alessa, Catherine left on her deathbed the care of her
spiritual family. This intimate little letter dates from an early
period in their friendship. In its homely, practical wisdom,
as in the gentle loftiness of its tone, it shows the watchful
and loving care with which Catherine entered into the details
of the daily life of those whom she sought to lead with her
in the way of salvation. The tests she proposes are as
penetrating to-day as they were then.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, thy
poor unworthy mother, want thee to attain that perfection for
which God has chosen thee. It seems to me that one wishing

26 LETTERS OF CATHKRINK BKN1NCASA

ho !o attaid should walk with and not without moderation.
Ami yet every work of ours ought to be clone both without

and with moderation: it befits us to love God without
moderatioilj putting to that love neither limit nor measure nor
rule, but Loving Him immeasurably. And if thou wish to
reach the perfection of love, it befits thee to set thy life in
order. Lei thy first rule be to flee the conversation of every
human being, in 80 far as it is simply conversation, except as

deeds <>f charity may demand ; but to love people very much,

and talk with few of them. And know how to talk in
moderation even with those whom thou lovest with spiritual
lovej reflect that if thou didst not do this, thou WOUldst
place a limit before perceiving it to that limitless love which
thou ouiditesl to bear to God, by placing the finite creature
between you : for the love which thou shouldst place in God
thou WOUldst place in the creature, loving it without modera-
tion J and this would hinder thy perfection. Therefore thou

shouldst love it spirit uallv, in a disciplined way.

Be a vase, which thou Idlest at the source and at the source
dost drink from. Although thou hadsl drawn thy love from
(Uh\, who is the Source ol Living water, didst thou not drink

it continually in Him thy vase would remain empty. And this

shall be the sign to thee that thou dost not drink wholly

in God: when thou sufferesi from that which thou lovest,
either by some talk thou didst hold, or because thou wast

deprived o\' some consolation thou wast used to receiving, or

for some other accidental cause. If thou sufferest, then,

from this or anything else except wrom> against God, it is a
clear 8ign to thee that this love is still imperfect, and drawn
far from the Source. What wav is there, then, to make the
Imperfect perfect? This way- to correct and chastise the

movements of tin heart with true self-knowledge, and witn
hatred and distaste for thy imperfection, that thou art such a

peasant as to give to the creature that love which OUght to be

TO MONNA ALESSA DEI SARACINI 27

given wholly to God, loving the creature without moderation,
and God moderately. For love toward God should be withoul
measure) and thai ( « >r the creature should be measured by
thai for God, and not by the measure oi one's owa consola-
tions, either spiritual or temporal. So do, then, thai thou
lovesi everything in (»od, and correct every inordinate
affection.

Make two hollies for thyself, my daughter* One actual
home in l!iy cell, thai thou go not running alioiil into many
places, unless for necessity, or for obedience tO the prion-:, s,
6r for charity S sake- and another spiritual home, which thou
art tO cany with thee always the cell ol true sell-knowledge,

where thou shah find within thyseli knowledge ol the good-
ness oi Godi These are two cells in one, and when abiding
in the one it behoves thee to abide in the Other, for Other*

wise the soul would fall into either confusion or presumption^

For did.81 thou res! in knowledge ol I hysell , < oiil m.ioii ol mind
would (all 011 thee J and didst thou abide in the knowledge
ol God alone, thou WOUldsl fall into presumption. 'The two,

then, must be built together and made one same thing) ii

thou dost this, thou will attain perfection. For Irom sell-
knowledge thou will gain hatred ol thine own lleshliness, and
through hale thou wilt become a judge, and sit upon I he seal
ol thy conscience, and pass judgment J and thou will not lei

b fault go withoul giving sentence on it-

From such knowledge flows the stream oi humility } which
never seizes on mere report, nor takes offence ai anything,
but bears every insult, every loss ol consolation, and every

sorrow, from whatever direction they may come, patiently,

with joy. Shames appear glory, and great persecutions
refreshmenti and ii rejoices in all, seeing iteelJ punished for

that perverse law of sell-will ill its inembeis wliii h for ever
rebels againsl God j and il see:; itself Conformed with Clmst

Jesus crucified, the way and the doctrine oi truth.

28 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the knowledge of God thou shalt find the fire of divine
charity. "Where shalt thou rejoice ? Upon the Cross, with
the Spotless Lamb, seeking His honour and the salvation
of souls, through continual, humble prayer. Now herein
is all our perfection. There are many other things also, but
this is the chief, from which we receive so much light that we
cannot err in the lesser works that follow.

Rejoice, my daughter, to conform thee to the shame of
Christ. And watch over the impulse of the tongue, that the
tongue may not always respond to the impulse of the heart j
but digest what is in thy heart, with hatred and distaste for
thyself. Do thou be the least of the least, subject in humility
and patience to every creature through God ; not making
excuses, but saying : the fault is mine. Thus are vices
conquered in thy soul and in the soul of him to whom thou
shouldest so speak : through the virtue of humility.

Order thy time : the night to vigil, when thou hast paid the
debt of sleep to thy body ; and the morning in church with
sweet prayer ; do not spend it in chatting until the appointed
hour. Let nothing except necessity, or obedience, or charity,
as I said, draw thee away from this or anything else. After
the hour of eating, recollect thyself a little, and then do some-
thing with thy hands, as thou mayest need. At the hour
of vespers, do thou go and keep quiet ; and as much as the
Holy Spirit enjoins on thee, that do. Then go back and take
care of thy old mother without negligence, and provide what
she needs ; be thine this burden. More when I return.
So do that thou mayest fulfil my desire. I say no more.
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love.

TO BENINCASA HER BROTHER

WHEN HE WAS IN FLORENCE

One questions whether Catherine's brother would have relished
the admonitions of his saintly sister, had he known what we
learn through her biographer : that, feeling the temporal pros-
perity of her family to be a snare to them, she had earnestly
prayed that they might fall into poverty. The petition was
promptly granted : worldly losses, and the departure of two
of the brothers for Florence, followed upon the Sienese
Revolution of 1368. Apparently, family misunderstandings
accompanied these readjustments. In the first of the present
letters Catherine takes her elder brother to task for neglect
of his mother, Monna Lapa. We do not know the effect of
her remarks, but we do know that in the large family of twenty-
four, no one except Catherine herself — first recluse, and later
busy woman of affairs as she was — seems to have carried the
responsibility for the mother's welfare. The mother lived for
the most part with her great daughter, except when public
interests took Catherine away from home — occasions to which
poor Monna Lapa was never reconciled.

In the second of these notes, Catherine comforts her brother
very sweetly, probably for the loss of his wealth. But if we
may judge from the nature of the reflections addressed to
him, the spiritual instruction by which Benincasa was capable
of profiting was extremely elementary in character.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary ':
Dearest brother in Christ Jesus : I Catherine, a useless
servant, comfort and bless thee and. invite thee to a sweet and

30 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

most holy patience, for without patience we could not please
God. So I beg you, in order that you may receive the fruit
of your tribulations, that you assume the armour of patience.
And should it seem very hard to you to endure your many
troubles, bear in memory three things, that you may endure
more patiently. First, I want you to think of the shortness
of your time, for on one day you are not certain of the morrow.
We may truly say that we do not feel past trouble, nor that
which is to come, but only the moment of time at which we
are. Surely, then, we ought to endure patiently, since the
time is so short. The second thing is, for you to consider
the fruit which follows our troubles. For St. Paul says there
is no comparison between our troubles and the fruit and reward
of supernal glory. The third is, for you to consider the loss
which results to those who endure in wrath and impatience ;
for loss follows this here, and eternal punishment to the soul.

Therefore I beg you, dearest brother, to endure in all
patience. And I would not have it escape your mind that
you should correct you of your ingratitude, and your ignor-
ing of the duty you owe your mother, to which you are held
by the commandment of God. I have seen your ingratitude
multiply so that you have not even paid her the due of help
that you owe : to be sure, I have an excuse for you in this,
because you could not ; but if you had been able, I do not
know that you would have done it, since you have left her in
scarcity even of words. Oh, ingratitude ! Have you not
considered the sorrow of her labour, nor the milk that she
drew from her breast, nor the many troubles that she has had,
over you and all the others ? And should you say to me that
she has had no compassion on us, I say that it is not so ; for
she has had so much on you and the other that it costs her
dear. But suppose it were true — you are under obligation to
her, not she to you. She did not take her flesh from you, but
gave you hers. I beg you to correct this fault and others,

TO BENINCASA HER BROTHER 31

and to pardon my ignorance. For did I not love your soul,
I would not say to you what I do. Remember your confession,
you and all your family. I say no more to you. Remain in
the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest and most beloved brother in Christ Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
comfort you in the Precious Blood of the Son of God : with
desire to see you wholly in accord with the Will of God, and
transformed thereby j knowing that this is a sweet and holy
yoke which makes all bitterness turn into sweetness. Every
great burden becomes light beneath this most holy yoke of the
sweet will of God, without which thou couldst not please
God, but wouldst know a foretaste of Hell. Comfort you,
comfort you, dearest brother, and do not faint beneath this
chastisement of God •, but trust that when human help fails,
divine help is near. God will provide for you. Reflect that
Job lost his possessions and his sons and his health : his wife
remained to him for a perpetual scourge $ and then, when
God had tested his patience, He restored everything to him
double, and at the end eternal life. Patient Job never was
perturbed, but would say, always exercising the virtue of holy
patience, " God gave them to me, God has taken them from
me j the Name of God be blessed." So I want you to do,
dearest brother : be a lover of virtue, with holy patience, often
using confession, which will as often help you to endure your
afflictions. And I tell you, God will show His benignity and
mercy, and will reward you for every affliction which you
shall have borne for His love. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO THE VENERABLE RELIGIOUS,
BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA,

OF THE ORDER OF THE HERMIT

BROTHERS OF SAINT AUGUSTINE

AT THE WOOD OF THE LAKE

It is in her letters to persons leading the dedicated life that
one can most clearly study Catherine's own inner experience.
When warning and consoling them, she is speaking to herself.
This obscure girl had a way of writing to the great of this
earth — and indeed to the very Fathers of Christendom — with
the straightforward simplicity of a teacher instructing childish
minds in the evident rudiments of virtue. Often the sanctified
common sense of her letters to dignitaries is the most notice-
able thing about them. But when she turns to a holy hermit,
the tone changes. The commonplaces of the moral life are
assumed or left behind \ she speaks to a soul that has presum-
ably already brought its will into accord with the divine will
in regard to all outward happenings, and she takes calmly for
granted that this is a light and little thing. We proceed to
the analysis of temptations more subtle and more alluring.
Catherine has few superiors among religious thinkers in the
power to trace self-will to its remotest lairs, in the deeper
reaches of personality. In letters to such correspondents as
Frate Antonio she often gives us, as here, precious records of
her intercourse with her Lord.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

To you, most beloved and dearest father and brother in
Christ Jesus : I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of

TO BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA 33

Jesus Christ, write and commend me in the Precious Blood of
the Son of God, with desire to see you kindled and inflamed
in the furnace of divine charity and your own self-will — the
will that robs us of all life — consumed therein. Let us open
our eyes, dearest brother, for we have two wills — one of the
senses, which seeks the things of sense, and the other the
self-will of the spirit, which, under aspect and colour of
virtue, holds firm to its own way. And this is clear when
it wants to choose places and seasons and consolations to suit
itself, and says : " Thus I wish in order to possess God more
fully." This is a great cheat, and an illusion of the devil ;
for not being able to deceive the servants of God through
their first will — since the servants of God have already
mortified it so far as the things of sense go — the devil catches
their second will on the sly with things of the spirit. So
many a time the soul receives consolation, and then later feels
itself deprived thereof by God \ and another experience will
harrow it, which will give less consolation and more fruit.
Then the soul, which is inspired by what gives sweetness,
suffers when deprived of it, and feels annoyance. And why
annoyance ? Because it does not want to be deprived ; for it
says, " I seem to love God more in this way than in that.
From the one I feel that I bear some fruit, and from the other
I perceive no fruit at all, except pain and ofttimes many con-
flicts ; and so I seem to wrong God." Son and brother in
Christ Jesus, I say that this soul is. deceived by its self-will.
For it would not be deprived of sweetness ; with this bait
the devil catches it. Frequently men lose time in longing for
time to suit themselves, for they do not employ what they have
otherwise than in suffering and gloominess.

Once our sweet Saviour said to a very dear daughter of
His, " Dost thou know how those people act who want to
fulfil My will in consolation and in sweetness and joy ? When
they are deprived of these things, they wish to depart from

34 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

My will, thinking to do well and to avoid offence ; but false
sensuality lurks in them, and to escape pains it falls into
offence without perceiving it. But if the soul were wise and
had the light of My will within, it would look to the fruit and
not to the sweetness. What is the fruit of the soul ? Hatred
of itself and love of Me. This hate and love are the issue of
self-knowledge ; then the soul knows its faulty self to be
nothing, and it sees in itself My goodness, which keeps its
will good ; and it sees what a person I have made it, in order
that it may serve Me in greater perfection, and judges that I
have made it for the best, and for its own greatest good.
Such a man as this, dearest daughter, does not wish for time
to suit himself, because he has learned humility ; knowing his
infirmity, he does not trust in his own wish, but is faithful to
Me. He clothes him in My highest and eternal will, because
he sees that I neither give nor take away, save for your
sanctification ; and he sees that love alone impels Me to give
you sweetness and to take it from you. For this cause he
cannot grieve over any consolation that might be taken from
him within or without, by demon or fellow-creature — because
he sees that, were this not for his good, I should not permit
it. Therefore this man rejoices because he has light within
and without, and is so illumined that when the devil
approaches his mind with shadows to confuse him, saying,
* This is for thy sins,' he replies like a person who shrinks not
from suffering, saying, ' Thanks be to my Creator, who has
remembered me in the time of shadows, punishing me by pain
in finite time. Great is this love, which will not punish me in
the infinite future.' Oh, what tranquillity of mind has this
soul, because it has freed itself from the self-will which
brings storm ! But not thus does he whose self-will is lively
within, seeking things after his own way ! For he seems to
think that he knows what he needs better than I. Many a
time he says, 'It seems to me that I am wronging God in this :

TO BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA 35

free me from wrong, and let what He wills be done.' This is
a sign that you are freed from wrong, when you see in your-
self goodwill not to want to wrong God, and displeasure with
sin ; thence ought you to take hope. Although all external
activities and inward consolations should fail, let goodwill to
please God ever remain firm. Upon this rock is founded
grace. If thou sayest, I do not seem to have it, I say that
this is false, for if thou hadst it not, thou wouldst not fear to
wrong God. But it is the devil who makes things look so, in
order that the soul may fall into confusion and disordered
sadness, and hold firm its self-will, by wanting consolations,
times and seasons in its own way. Do not believe him,
dearest daughter, but let your soul be always ready to endure
sufferings in howsoever God may inflict them. Otherwise
you would do like a man who stands on the threshold with a
light in his hand, who reaches his hand out and casts light
outside, and within it is dark. Such is a man who is already
united in outward things with the will of God, despising the
world-, but within, his spiritual self-will is living still, veiled in
the colour of virtue." Thus spoke God to that servant of
His spoken of above.

Therefore I said that I wished and desired that your will
should be absorbed and transformed in Him, while we hold
ourselves always ready to bear pains and toils howsoever
God chooses to send them to us. So we shall be freed from
darkness and abide in light. Amen. Praised be Jesus Christ
crucified and sweet Mary.

TO MONNA AGNESE

WHO WAS THE WIFE OF

MESSER ORSO MALAVOLTI

Catherine is well aware that the world can be as true a
school of holiness as the forest cell. She writes to the noble
lady, Monna Agnese Malavolti, in much the same strain as to
Frate Antonio. The danger of spiritual self-will forms indeed
one of those recurring themes which pervade her letters like
the motifs of Wagnerian music — ever the same, yet woven into
ever-new harmonies.

But the general subject of this letter is the " Santissima
Pazienza," which is still frequently invoked by the common
folk of Siena : and Catherine's analysis searches deep. Patience
could hardly have been one of the virtues most native to the
woman's valiant spirit, and one feels in her keen and solemn
meditations that she had herself known the bitter and corroding
power of the sin " that burns and does not consume," and that
" makes the soul unendurable to itself." It is with convincing
fervour and fulness that she presents impatience as the permanent
condition of the lost. The little discussion of impatience in
human relations, and of the "proud humility" resorted to by
a soul ravaged by a sense of neglect, has also a very personal
note. But it is still more clear in the letter that Catherine's
had become the disciplined nature which can " endure a rest-
less mind with more reverence than a tranquil one," if such be
the will of God, and which has entered deeply into the joy
that awaits the meek.

Monna Agnese must have stood in special need of these
touching exhortations : she was a woman sorrowfully tried.
Her son had been beheaded in 1 372, in punishment for

TO MONNA AGNESE 37

heinous sin ; and now her only daughter had died. " For the
which thing," writes Catherine, with one of her own inimitable
phrases, " I am deeply content, with a holy compassion."

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
Precious Blood, with the desire to see you established in true
patience, since I consider that without patience we cannot
please God. For just as impatience gives much pleasure to
the devil and to one's own lower nature, and revels in nothing
but anger when it misses what the lower nature wants, so it is
very displeasing to God. It is because anger and impatience
are the very pith and sap of pride that they please the devil so
much. Impatience loses the fruit of its labour, deprives the
soul of God ; it begins by knowing a foretaste of hell, and
later it brings men to eternal damnation : for in hell the evil
perverted will burns with anger, hate and impatience. It
burns and does not consume, but is evermore renewed — that
is, it never grows less, and therefore I say, it does not consume.
It has indeed parched and consumed grace in the souls of the
lost, but as I said it has not consumed their being, and so their
punishment lasts eternally. The saints say that the damned
ask for death and cannot have it, because the soul never dies.
It dies to be sure to grace, by mortal sin ; but it does not die
to existence. There is no sin nor wrong that gives a man such
a foretaste of hell in this life as anger and impatience. It is
hated by God, it holds its neighbour in aversion, and has
neither knowledge nor desire to bear and forbear with its
faults. And whatever is said or done to it, it at once empoisons,
and its impulses blow about like a leaf in the wind. It becomes
unendurable to itself, for perverted will is always gnawing at
it, and it craves what it cannot have ; it is discordant with the

38 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

will of God and with the rational part of its own soul. And
all this comes from the tree of Pride, from which oozes out
the sap of anger and impatience. The man becomes an
incarnate demon, and it is much worse to fight with these
visible demons than with the invisible. Surely, then, every
reasonable being ought to flee this sin.

But note, that there are two sources of impatience. There
is a common kind of impatience, felt by ordinary men in the
world, which befalls them on account of the inordinate love
they have for themselves and for temporal things, which they
love apart from God ; so that to have them they do not mind
losing their soul, and putting it into the hands of the devils.
This is beyond help, unless a man recognizes himself, how he
has wronged God, and cuts down that tree of Pride with the
sword of true humility, which produces charity in the soul.
For there is a tree of Love, whose pith is patience and good-
will toward one's neighbour. For, just as impatience shows
more clearly than any other sin that the soul is deprived of
God — because it is at once evident that since the pith is there,
the tree of Pride must be there — so patience shows better and
more perfectly than any other virtue, that God is in the soul
by grace. Patience, I say, deep within the tree of Love,
that for love of its Creator disdains the world, and loves insults
whencesoever they come.

I was saying that anger and impatience were of two kinds,
one general and one special. We have spoken of the
common kind. Now I talk of the more particular, of the
Impatience of those who have already despised the world, and
who wish to be servants of Christ crucified in their own way ;
that is, in so far as they shall find joy and consolation in Him.
This is because spiritual self-will is not dead in them : there-
fore they imperiously demand from God that He should give
them consolations and tribulations in their own way, and not
in His j and so they become impatient, when they get the

TO MONNA AGNESE 39

contrary of what their spiritual self-will wants. This is a
little offshoot from Pride, sprouting from real Pride, as a tree
sends out a little tree by its side, which looks separated from
it, but nevertheless it gets the substance from which it springs
from the same tree. So is self-will in the soul which chooses
to serve God in its own way j and when that way fails it
suffers, and its suffering makes it impatient, and it is unen-
durable to itself, and takes no pleasure in serving God or its
neighbour. Nay, if any one came to it for comfort or help it
would give him nothing but reproaches, and would not know
how to be tolerant to his need. All this results from the
sensitive spiritual self-will that grows from the tree of Pride
which was cut down, but not uprooted. It is cut down when
the soul uplifts its desire above the world, and fastens it on
God, but has fastened there imperfectly -, the root of Pride
was left, and therefore it sent up an offshoot by its side, and
shows itself in spiritual things. So, if it misses consolations
from God, and its mind stays dry and sterile, it at once
becomes disturbed and depressed, and, under colour of virtue
— because it thinks itself deprived of God — it begins to com-
plain, and lays down the law to God. But were it truly
humble and had true hate and knowledge of itself, it would
deem itself unworthy of the visitation of God to its soul, and
worthy of the pain that it suffers, in being deprived, not of
God's grace in the soul, but of its consolations. It suffers,
then, because it has to work in its chains ; yes, spiritual self-
will suffers under the delusion that it is wronging God, while
the trouble is really with its own lower nature.

Therefore the humble soul, which has freely uprooted with
eager love the root of Pride, has annulled its own will, seeking
ever the honour of God and the salvation of souls. It does
not mind sufferings, but endures a restless mind with more
reverence than a quiet one ; having a holy respectful know-
ledge that God gives and grants this to it for its good, that it

40 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

may rise from imperfection to perfection. That is the way to
make it attain perfection, for it recognizes better thereby its
own defects and the grace of God, which it finds within,
in the goodwill that God has given it to hate its mortal sin.
Also, by meditating on its defects and faults, old and new,
it has conceived hatred for itself, and love for the Highest
Eternal Will of God. Therefore it bears these things with
reverence, and is content to endure inwardly and outwardly,
in whatever way God grants it. Provided that it can be filled
and clothed with the sweetness of the will of God, it rejoices
in everything; and the more it sees itself deprived of the
thing it loves, whether the consolations of God, as I said,
or of its fellows, the more gladsome it grows. For many
a time it happens that the soul loves spiritually ; but if it does
not find the consolation or satisfaction from the beloved that
it would like, or if it suspects that more love or satisfaction
is given to another than to itself, it falls into suffering, into
depression of mind, into criticism of its neighbour and false
judgment, passing judgment on the mind and intention of the
servants of God, and especially on those from whom it suffers.
Thence it becomes impatient, and thinks what it should not
think, and says with its tongue what it should not say. In
such suffering as this, it likes to resort to a proud humility,
which has the aspect of humility, but is really an offshoot
of Pride, springing up beside it — saying to itself: "I will
not pay these people any more attention, or trouble myself any
more about them. I will keep entirely to myself; I do not
wish to hurt either myself or them." And it abases itself
with a perverted scorn. Now it ought to perceive that this is
scorn, by the impulse to judge that it feels in its heart, and
by the complaints of its tongue. It ought not then to do
so ; for in this fashion it will never get rid of the root of
Pride, nor cut off the little son at the side, which hinders the
soul from attaining the perfection at which it has aimed. But

TO MONNA AGNESE 41

it ought to kneel at the table of the Most Holy Cross, to
receive the food of the honour of God and the salvation
of souls, with a free heart, with holy hatred of itself, with
passionate desire : seeking to gain virtue by suffering and
sweat, and not by private consolations either from God or
its fellows ; following the footsteps and the teaching of
Christ Crucified, saying to itself with sharp rebuke : " Thou
shouldst not, my soul, thou that art a member, travel by
another road than thy Head. An unfit thing it is that limbs
should remain delicate beneath a thorn-crowned Head." If
such habits became fixed, through one's own frailty, or the
wiles of the devil, or the many impulses that shake the heart
like winds, then the soul ought to ascend the seat of its
conscience, and reason with itself, and let nothing pass without
punishment and chastisement, hatred and distaste for itself.
So the root shall be pulled up, and by displeasure against
itself the soul will drive out displeasure against its neighbour,
grieving more over the unregulated instincts of its own
heart and thoughts than over the suffering it could receive
from its fellows, or any insult or annoyance they could inflict
on it.

This is the sweet and holy fashion observed by those who are
wholly inspired of Christ ; for in this wise they have uprooted
perverted pride, and that marrow of impatience of which we
said above that it was very pleasing to the devil, because it is
the beginning and occasion of every sin ; and on the contrary
that as it is very pleasing to the devil, so it is very displeasing
to God. Pride displeases Him and humility pleases Him.
So greatly did the virtue of humility please Him in Mary that
He was constrained to give her the Word His Only-Begotten
Son ; and she was the sweet mother who gave Him to us.
Know well, that until Mary showed by her spoken words her
humility and pure will, when she said: "Ecce Ancilla Domini,
be it done unto me according to Thy word" — the Son of

42 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

God was not incarnate in her \ but when she had said this,
she conceived within herself that sweet and Spotless Lamb —
the Sweet Primal Truth showing thereby how excellent is this
little virtue, and how much the soul receives that offers and
presents its will in humility to its Creator. So then — in the
time of labours and persecutions, of insults and injuries inflicted
by one's neighbour, of mental conflicts and deprivation of
spiritual consolations, by the Creator or the creature, (by
the Creator in His gentleness, when He withdraws the feeling
of the mind, so that it does not seem as if God were in the
soul, so many are its pains and conflicts — and by fellow-
creatures, in conversation or amusement, or when the soul
thinks that it loves more than it is loved) — in all these things,
I say that the soul perfected by humility says : " My Lord,
behold Thy handmaid : be it done unto me according to Thy
word, and not according to what I want with my senses."
So it sheds the fragrance of patience, around the Creator and
its fellow-creature and itself. It has peace and quiet in its
mind, and it has found peace in warfare, because it has driven
far from it its self-will founded in pride, and has conceived
divine grace in its soul. And it bears in its mind's breast
Christ crucified, and rejoices in the "Wounds of Christ crucified,
and seeks to know naught but Christ crucified ; and its bed
is the Cross of Christ crucified. There it annuls its own will,
and becomes humble and obedient.

For there is no obedience without humility, nor humility
without charity. This is shown by the Word, for in
obedience to His Father and in humility, He ran to the shame-
ful death of the Cross, nailing and binding Him with the nails
and bands of charity, and enduring in such patience that no
cry of complaint was heard from Him. For nails were not
enough to hold God-and-Man nailed and fastened on the Cross
had Love not held Llim there. This I say that the soul feels ;
therefore it will not joy otherwise than with Christ crucified.

TO MONNA AGNESE 43

For could it attain to virtue and escape Hell and have eternal
life, without sufferings, and have in the world consolations
spiritual and temporal, it would not wish them ; but it desires
rather to suffer, enduring even unto death, than to have
eternal life in any other way : only let it conform itself with
Christ crucified, and clothe it with His shames and pains. It
has found the table of the Spotless Lamb.

Oh, glorious virtue ! Who would not give himself to
death a thousand times, and endure any suffering through
desire to win thee ? Thou art a queen, who dost possess the
entire world ; thou dost inhabit the enduring life ; for while
the soul that is arrayed in thee is yet mortal, thou makest it
abide by force of love with those who are immortal. Since,
then, this virtue is so excellent and pleasing to God and
useful to us and saving to our neighbour, arise, dearest
daughter, from the sleep of negligence and ignorance, casting
to earth the weakness and frailty of thy heart, that it feel no
suffering nor impatience over anything that God permits to
us, so that we may not fall either into the common kind of
impatience, or into the special kind, as we were saying before,
but serve our sweet Saviour manfully, with liberty of heart
and true perfect patience. If we do otherwise, we shall lose
grace by the first sort of impatience, and by the second we
shall hinder our state of perfection ; and you would not attain
that to which God has called you.

It seems that God is calling you to great perfection. And
I perceive it by this, that He takes away from you every tie
that might hinder it in you. For as I have heard, it seems
that He has called to Himself your daughter, who was your
last tie with the outer world. For which thing I am deeply
content, with a holy compassion, that God should have set you
free, and taken her from her labours. Now then, I want that
you should wholly destroy your own will, that it may cling to
nothing but Christ crucified. In this way you will fulfil His

44 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

will and my desire. Therefore, not knowing any other way
in which you could fulfil it, I said to you that I desired to see
you established in true and holy patience, because without
this we cannot reach our sweet goal. I say no more.
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love.

TO SISTER EUGENIA, HER NIECE

AT THE CONVENT OF SAINT
AGNES OF MONTEPULCIANO

Two nieces, daughters of Bartolo Benincasa, were nuns in
the Convent of Montepulciano. To one of them the follow-
ing letter is addressed. One can read between the lines a
lively solicitude. Never cloistered herself, Catherine had a
close intimacy with cloisters, and knew their best and worst.
She held in hearty and loyal respect the opportunities which
they offered for leading an exalted life ; to this Convent of
St. Agnes she was peculiarly attached. At the same time, she
was well aware, as other letters beside the present show, that
even the best of cloisters afforded at this time scant shelter to
young girls from emotional temptation, gross or fine. Her
warnings to her niece have the authoritative tone of anxiety.
Let us hope that Eugenia took them to heart, and that, leading
the disciplined life of Catherine's desire, she became not un-
worthy to receive and apprehend in its full beauty the
penetrating meditation on Prayer which forms the second part
of the letter. The thoughts of this meditation, like many

i others in Catherine's letters, will be found amplified in her
Dialogue — a colloquy between God and her soul, composed

c and dictated in trance during the year 1378. The following

1 quotation illustrates an interesting passage of the letter : —
" In this way, vocal prayer can be useful to the soul and do
Me pleasure, and from imperfect vocal prayer it can advance by

| persevering practice to perfect mental prayer. But if it aims
simply to complete its number (of paternosters), or if it gave up

1 mental prayer for the sake of vocal, it would never arrive at
perfection. Sometimes, when a soul has made a resolution to

46 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

say a certain number of prayers, I may visit its mind, now in
one way, now in another : at one time with the light of self-
knowledge and contrition over its lightness, at another, with
the largesse of My charity ; at another, by putting before its
mind, in diverse manner as may please Me, and as that soul
may have craved, the Presence of My Truth. And the soul
will be so ignorant that it will turn from My Visitation, in
order to complete its number, from a conscientious scruple
against giving up what it began. It ought not to do thus, for
this would be a wile of the devil. But at once, when it feels
its mind ready for My Visitation, in any way, as I said, it should
abandon the vocal prayer. Then, when the mental has passed,
if there is time it can resume the other, which it had planned
to say. But if there is not time it must not care nor be
troubled or bewildered."

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to
thee in His precious Blood, with desire to see thee taste the
food of angels, since thou art made for no other end ; and
that thou mightest taste it, God bought thee with the Blood
of His Only-Begotten Son. But reflect, dearest daughter,
that this food is not taken upon earth, but on high, and there-
fore the Son of God chose to be lifted up upon the wood of
the Most Holy Cross, in order that we might receive this food
upon this table on high. But thou wilt say to me : What
is this food of angels ? I reply to thee : it is the desire
of God, which draws to itself the desire that is in the depths
of the soul, and they make one thing together.

This is a food which while we are pilgrims in this life,
draws to itself the fragrance of true and sincere virtues,
which are prepared by the fire of divine chanty, and received

TO SISTER EUGENIA, HER NIECE 47

upon the table of the cross. That is, virtue is won by pain
and weariness, casting down one's own fleshly nature ; — the
kingdom of one's soul which is called Heaven (cielo) because
it hides (cela) God within it by patience, is seized with force
and violence. This is the food that makes the soul angelic,
and therefore it is called the food of angels ; and also because
the soul, separated from the body, tastes God in His essential
Being. He satisfies the soul in such wise that she longs for
no other thing nor can desire aught but what may help her
more perfectly to keep and increase this food, so that she
holds in hate what is contrary to it. Therefore, like a prudent
person, she looks with the light of most holy faith, which
is in the eye of the mind, and beholds what is harmful and
what is useful to her. And as she has seen, so she loves and
condemns — holding, I say, her own fleshly nature and all
the vices which proceed from it, bound beneath the feet
of her affections. She' flees all causes that may incline her
to vice or hinder her perfection. So she annuls her self-will,
which is the cause of all evil, and subjects it to the yoke
of holy obedience, not only to the Order and its chief, but
to every least creature through God. Slv. flees all glory and
human indulgence, and glories only in the shames and sorrows
of Christ crucified : insults, outrage, ridicule, injuries, are
milk to her ; she joys in them, to be conformed with the
Bridegroom, Christ crucified. She renounces conversation
with fellow-beings, because she sees that they often intervene
between us and our Creator, and she flees to the actual and to
the mental cell.

To this I summon thee and the others : and I command
thee, dearest daughter mine, that thou abide for ever in the
cell of self-knowledge, where we find the angelic food of
the eager desire of God toward us; and in the actual cell, with
vigil and humble faithful continual prayer, divesting thy heart
and mind of every creature, and clothing them with Christ

48 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

crucified. Otherwise thou wouldst eat upon the earth, and
there I have already said to thee, one should not eat. Reflect
that thy Bridegroom, Christ sweet Jesus, wishes naught
between thee and Him, and is very jealous. So as soon as
He saw that thou didst love any thing apart from Him, He
would go from thee, and thou wouldst be made worthy to
eat the food of beasts. And wouldst thou not truly be
a beast, and food for beasts, didst thou leave the Creator for
the creature, and infinite good for finite and transitory things
that pass like the winds, light for darkness, life for death,
Him who clothes thee in the sun of justice with the clasp
of obedience, and pearls of living faith, firm hope, and perfect
charity, for him who robs thee of them ? And wouldst thou
not be foolish indeed to depart from Him who gives thee
perfect purity — so that the closer thou dost cling to Him, the
more the flower of thy virginity is refined — for those who
many a time and oft shed a stench of impurity, defiling mind
and body ? God avert them from thee by His infinite mercy !
And in order that no such thing may ever happen to thee,
be on thy guard : let not thy misfortune be such as to enter
into any private conversation, with monk or layman. For
if I were to know or hear it, even if I were much farther
away than I am, I would give thee such a discipline that it
v/ould stay in thy memory all thy whole life ; never mind
who may be by. Beware neither to give nor receive, except
in case of need, helping every one in common within and
without. Be steadfast and mature in thyself. Serve the
sisters tenderly, with all vigilance, especially those whom
thou seest in need. "When guests pass by and ask for thee
at the gratings, abide in thy peace and do not go — but let
them say to the prioress what they wanted to say to thee,
unless she commands thee to go on thy obedience. Then,
hold thy head bowed, and be as savage as a hedgehog. Keep
in thy mind the manners which that glorious virgin Saint

TO SISTER EUGENIA, HER NIECE 49

Agnes made her daughters observe. Go to confession and
tell thy need ; and when thou hast received thy penance, run.
Beware, moreover, that thy confessors be not from the men
who have brought thee up. And do not wonder because
I talk so ; for many a time thou mayest have heard me say, and
it is the truth, that the talk of so-called pious men and women,
full of depraved expressions, ruins the souls and the habits
and practices of Religious. Beware that thou bind thy heart
to none but Christ crucified ; for the hour would come when
thou wouldst wish to set it free and couldst not, which
would be very hard for thee. I say that the soul which has
tasted of the food of angels has seen in the light that this
and the other things we were speaking of are an obstacle
between itself and its food, and therefore flees them with
the greatest zeal. I say that it loves and seeks what may
increase and preserve it. And because it has seen that this
food is better enjoyed by means of prayer offered in self-
knowledge, therefore it exercises itself therein continually by
all the ways in which it can hold closer to God.

Prayer is of three sorts. The one is perpetual ; it is the
holy perpetual desire, which prays in the sight of God, whati
ever thou art doing ; for this desire directs all thy works,
spiritual and corporal, to His honour, and therefore it is called
perpetual. Of this it seems that Saint Paul the glorious was
talking when he said : Pray without ceasing. The other kind
is vocal prayer, when the offices Or other prayers are said
aloud. This is ordained to reach the third — that is, mental
prayer : your soul reaches this when it uses vocal prayer
in prudence and humility, so that while the tongue speaks
the heart is not far from God. But one must exert one's self
to hold and establish one's heart in the force of divine charity.
And whenever one felt one's mind to be visited by God, so
that it was drawn to think of its Creator in any wise, it ought
to abandon vocal prayer, and to fix its mind with the force of

50 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

love upon that wherein it sees God visit it ; then, if it has
time, when this has ceased, it ought to take up the vocal
prayer again, in order that the mind may always stay full and
not empty. And although many conflicts of diverse kinds
should abound in prayer, and darkness of mind with much
confusion, the devil making the soul feel that her prayer was
not pleasing to God — nevertheless, she ought not to give up
on account of those conflicts and shadows, but to abide firm
in fortitude and long perseverance, considering that the devil
so does to draw her away from prayer the mother, and God
permits it to test the fortitude and constancy of that soul.
Also, in order that by those conflicts and shadows she may
know herself not to be, and in the goodwill which she feels
preserved within her may know the goodness of God, Who
is Giver and Preserver of good and holy wills : such wills as
are not vouchsafed to all who want them.

By this means she attains to the third and last — mental
prayer, in which she receives the reward for the labours she
underwent in her imperfect vocal prayer. Then she tastes
the milk of faithful prayer. She rises above herself — that
is, above the gross impulses of the senses — and with
angelic mind unites herself with God by force of love, and
sees and knows with the light of thought, and clothes
herself with truth. She is made the sister of angels ; she
abides with her Bridegroom on the table of crucified desire,
rejoicing to seek the honour of God and the salvation of souls ;
since well she sees that for this the Eternal Bridegroom ran
to the shameful death of the Cross, and thus fulfilled obedience
to the Father, and our salvation. This prayer is surely a
mother, who conceives virtues by the love of God, and brings
them forth in the love of the neighbour. Where dost thou
show love, faith, and hope, and humility ? In prayer. For
thou wouldst never take pains to seek the thing which thou
didst not love j but he who loves would ever be one with what

TO SISTER EUGENIA, HER NIECE 51

he loves — that is, God. By means of prayer thou askest of
Him thy necessity ; for knowing thyself — the knowledge on
which true prayer is founded — thou seest thyself to have
great need. Thou feelest thyself surrounded by thine
enemies — by the world with its insults and its recalling of
vain pleasures, by the devil with his many temptations, by
the flesh with its great rebellion and struggle against the
spirit. And thou seest that in thyself thou art not ; not being,
thou canst not help thyself; and therefore thou dost hasten
in faith to Him who is, who can and will help thee in thine
every need, and thou dost hopefully ask and await His aid.
Thus ought prayer to be made, if thou wishest to have that
which thou awaitest. Never shall any just thing be denied
thee which thou askest in this wise from the Divine Goodness ;
but if thou dost in other wise, little fruit shalt thou receive.
Where shalt thou feel grief in thy conscience ? In prayer.
Where shalt thou divest thee of the self-love which makes
thee impatient in the time of insults and of other pains, and
shalt clothe thee in the divine love which shall make thee
patient, and shalt glory in the Cross of Christ crucified ? In
prayer. Where shalt thou breathe the perfume of virginity
and the hunger for martyrdom, holding thee ready to give
thy life for the honour of God and the salvation of souls ?
In this sweet mother, prayer. This will make thee an observer
of thy Rule : it will seal in thy heart and mind three solemn
vows which thou didst make at thy profession, leaving there
the imprint of the desire to observe them until death. This
releases thee from conversation with fellow-creatures, and
gives thee converse with thy Creator ; it fills the vessel of
thy heart with the Blood of the Humble Lamb, and crowns
it with flame, because with flame of love that Blood was shed.
The soul receives and tastes this mother Prayer more or
less perfectly, according as it nourishes itself with the food of
angels — that is, with holy and true desire for God, raising itself

52 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

on high, as I said, to receive it upon the table of the most
sweet Cross. Therefore I said to thee that I desired to see
thee nourished with angelic food, because I see not that in
otherwise thou couldst be a true bride of Christ crucifie'd,
consecrated to Him in holy religion. So do that I may see
thee a jewel precious in the sight of God. And do not go
about wasting thy time. Bathe and drown thee in the sweet
Blood of thy Bridegroom. I say no more. Remain in the
holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO NANNA, DAUGHTER OF BENINCASA
A LITTLE MAID, HER NIECE, IN FLORENCE

This tender and playful little letter, with its childlike simpli-
city of fancy and gentle authority of tone, encourages us to
believe that Catherine appreciated the full advantages of being
an aunt. We have other indications that the many spiritual
ties which held her as she grew older never weakened the
bond of any natural affection. Indeed, Catherine re-created
each natural bond, when possible, as a spiritual bond, an
achievement none too common. Doubtless, many children
grew up around her in the large Benincasa household. We
know that at the time of the plague, in 1374? Lapa was bring-
ing up eleven grandchildren in her own house. Of these,
eight fell victims to the pestilence, and we have a glimpse of
Catherine burying them with her own hands, and saying as
she laid them to rest one by one, " This one, at least, I shall
not lose." Of the little Nanna to whom this letter was
written we know nothing, except that she was the child of
the elder brother, who, as we have already seen, had
moved to Florence.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to
thee in His precious Blood, with desire to see thee a real
bride of Christ crucified, running away from everything which
might hinder thee from possessing this sweet and glorious
Bridegroom. But thou couldst not do this if thou wert not
among those wise virgins consecrated to Christ who had lamps

54 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

with oil in them, and light was within. See, then, if thou
wishest to be a bride of Christ, thou must have lamp, and oil,
and light. Dost thou know what this means, daughter mine ?
By the lamp is meant our heart, because a heart ought to be
made like a lamp. Thou seest that a lamp is wide above and
narrow below, and so the heart is made, to signify that we
ought always to keep it wide above, through holy thoughts
and holy imaginations and continual prayer ; always holding in
memory the blessings of God, and chiefly the blessing of the
Blood by which we are bought. For Blessed Christ, my
daughter, did not buy us with gold or silver or pearls or
other precious stones ; nay, He bought us with His precious
Blood. So one wants never to forget so great a blessing, but
always to hold it before one's eyes, in holy and sweet grati-
tude, seeing how immeasurably God loves us : who did not
shrink from giving His only begotten Son to the opprobrious
death of the Cross, to give us the life of grace.

I said that a lamp is narrow below, and so is our heart : to
signify that the heart ought to be narrow toward these earthly
things — that is, it must not desire nor love them extrava-
gantly, nor hunger for more than God wills to give us ; but
ever thank Him, seeing how sweetly He provides for us so
that we never lack anything.

Now in this way, our heart will really be a lamp. But
reflect, daughter mine, that this would not be enough were
there no oil within. By oil is meant that sweet little virtue,
profound humility : for it is fitting that the bride of Christ be
humble and gentle and patient ; and she will be as humble as
she is patient, and as patient as she is humble. But we cannot
attain this virtue of humility except by true knowledge of
ourselves, knowing our misery and frailty, and that we by our-
selves can do no good deed, nor escape any conflict or pain ;
for if we have a bodily infirmity, or a pain or conflict in our
minds, we cannot escape it or remove it — for if we could we

TO NANNA, DAUGHTER OF BENINCASA 55

should escape from it swiftly. So it is quite true that we in
ourselves are nothing other than infamy, misery, stench, frailty,
and sins ; wherefore, we ought always to abide low and
humble. But to abide wholly in such knowledge of one's self
would not be good, because the soul would fall into weariness
and confusion ; and from confusion it would fall into despair :
so the devil would like nothing better than to make us fall
into confusion, to drive us afterward to despair. We ought,
then, to abide in the knowledge of the goodness of God in
Himself, perceiving that He has created us in His image and
likeness, and re-created us in grace by the Blood of His only-
begotten Son, the sweet incarnate Lord \ and reflecting how
continually the goodness of God works in us. But see, that
to abide entirely in this knowledge of God would not be good,
because the soul would fall into presumption and pride. So it
befits us to have one mixed with the other — that is, to abide in
the holy knowledge of the goodness of God, and also in the
knowledge of ourselves : and so we shall be humble, patient,
and gentle, and in this way we shall have oil in our lamp.

Now, then, we must have light — otherwise it would not be
enough. This light has to be the light of most holy faith. ,
But the saints say that faith without works is dead, so our faith
might be neither living nor holy, but dead. Therefore we
need to exert ourselves virtuously all the time, and leave our
childishness and vanities, and not behave any longer like
worldly girls, but like faithful brides consecrated to Christ
crucified j in this way we shall have a lamp, and oil, and
light.

The Gospel says that these wise virgins were five. So I tell
thee that there must be five in each of us — otherwise we shall
not enter the wedding feast of eternal life.

By these five it is meant that we must subject and mortify
our five bodily senses, in such wise that we may never offend
with them, taking through them or some of them unregulated

56 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

pleasure or delight. In this way we shall be five, when we
have subdued our five senses.

But think that that sweet Bridegroom Christ is more jealous
of His brides than I could tell thee ! Therefore if He should
see that thou didst love anyone more than Him, He would be
angry with thee at once. And if thou didst not correct thyself,
the door would not be open to thee, to the wedding feast
which Christ the Lamb without spot holds for all His faithful :
but we should be driven away like bad women, as those five
foolish virgins were, who, glorying only and vainly in the
integrity and virginity of their body, lost the virginity of their
soul, through the corruption of the five senses, because they
did not carry the oil of humility with them, so that their lamps
went out. Therefore it was said to them : " Go hence to buy
oil." By this oil is meant in this place the flatteries and
praises of men ; since all the flatterers and praisers of the
world sell this oil. As if it were said to them : " You have
not wanted to buy eternal life with your virginity and your
good works ; no, you have wanted to buy the praises of men,
and to have the praises of men you have wrought. Go now
and buy praises, for you will not enter here." Therefore,
daughter mine, beware of the praises of men ; and do not want
praise for any work that thou mayest do, for the door of eternal
life would not be open to thee later.

So, reflecting that this was the best way, I said that I
desired to see thee a real bride of Christ crucified ; and so
I beg and command thee that thou try hard to be. I say no
more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

LETTERS ON THE CONSECRATED LIFE

Catherine is known in history as one of the great ascetics
of the Church ; these letters show her intimate attitude toward
the mortification of the flesh. She was a woman called of
God and her natural powers, constantly to assume the dangerous
duty of convincing men of their sin ; these letters give us
her conception of the safeguards needed in the performance
of that duty.

Both letters were written to Religious. Father William
Flete was an Englishman, who, passing through Italy in his
youth, became fascinated with the land, and spent the rest of
his life in a hermit's cell in the Forest of Lecceto. The annals
of the time throw some entertaining side-lights on his figure.
Famous for his austerities and for the sanctity of his life, he
was also a very impatient and somewhat intolerant person,
given to carping criticism of his brother hermits. Catherine,
in writing to him, analyses mercilessly the dangers of the
ascetic life ; one feels that not much self-righteousness could
be left in a man after reading her trenchant phrases. Soon,
however, she lifts him with her to the ardent contemplation of
the perfect life ; it is in words of singular beauty that she
describes the attitude of generous loving-kindness, uncritical,
humble and glad, with which the true servant of God con-
siders all sorts and conditions of men : " Such a man rejoices
in every type that he sees, saying : Thanks be to Thee, Eternal
Father, that Thou hast many mansions in Thy house. , . . He
rejoices more in the differences among men than he would in
seeing them all walk in the same way ; for so he sees more
manifest the greatness of the goodness of God. He gets
from everything the fragrance of roses."

58 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the letter to Sister Daniclla, Catherine develops these
ideas further. Of this "great servant of God" nothing is
known except what Catherine's letters to her show. Some-
thing may be inferred from the fact that she is one of the
few people to whom the greater woman writes as to a spititual
equal. She repeats to Daniella the letter to Father William —
such warnings, indeed, being needed by all persons leading
the consecrated life — and then goes on, in the remainder of
the letter as here given, to discuss those farther reaches of
perfection in which charity has done its perfect work. Two
things she wishes herself and Daniella to observe : the first
is abstinence from critical thoughts. Let us not "judge the
minds of our fellow-creatures, which are for God alone to
judge." It is the key to her own method in her great cure of
souls which she here gives us : " When it seems that God
shows us the faults of others, keep on the safer side — for
it may be that thy judgment is false. On thy lips let silence
abide. And any vice which thou mayest ascribe to others, do
thou ascribe at once to them and to thyself, in true humility.
If that vice really exists in a person, he will correct himself
better, seeing himself so gently understood, and will say of
his own accord the thing which thou wouldst have said to
him." — The other point which Catherine urges on Daniella
is the secondary importance of that life of mortification to
which she firmly believes that they have both been called.
" Good is penance and maceration of the body ; but do not
present these to me as a rule for every one. If either for
ourselves or others, we made penance our foundation . . we
should be ignorant, and should fall into a critical attitude, and
become weary and very bitter : for we should strive to give
a finite work to God, Who is Infinite Love, and demands
from us only infinite desire." Surely, in this last thought
Catherine has attained in a flash to sublime spiritual insight.

The Saints knew all about telepathy long before Societies

LETTERS ON THE CONSECRATED LIFE 59

of Psychical Research grew eager over the matter. It might
surprise some modern psychologists to read the tranquil passage
in which Catherine, assuming as a matter of course that any
servant of God engaged in intercessory prayer has a mystical
and direct knowledge of the condition of those she prays for,
proceeds to warn Daniella as intelligently as any modern
could do, though in different terms, as to the limitations
v/ithin which this kind of knowledge can be trusted.

' The little note with which this group closes is not
written to a great recluse, but to a tailor's wife. With
the simple, Catherine showed herself simple ; but Monna
Agnese is to lead the consecrated life no less than Sister
Daniella. Catherine's plain directions to the one about her
daily living evince the same mental clarity and sobriety as
her exhortations to the other, and discriminate in much the
same way between the excitement of religious practices and
true consecration.

TO BROTHER WILLIAM OF ENGLAND
OF THE HERMIT BROTHERS OF ST. AUGUSTINE

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant and
slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood, with desire to see you in true light. For
without light we shall not be able to walk in the way of
truth, but shall walk in shadows. Two lights are necessary.
First, we must be illumined to know the transitory things of
the world, which all pass like the wind. But these are not
rightly known if we do not know our own frailty, how in-
clined it is, from the perverse law which is bound up with
our members, to rebel against its Creator. This light is
necessary to every rational creature, in whatever state it may
be, if it wishes to have divine grace, and to share in the
blessing of the Blood of the Spotless Lamb. This is the
common light, that everybody in general ought to have, for
whoever has it not is in a state of condemnation. This is the
reason ; that, not having light, he is not in a state of grace ;
for one who does not know the evil of wrong, nor who is
cause of it, cannot avoid it nor hate the cause. So he who
does not know good, and virtue the cause of good, cannot
love nor desire that good.

The soul must not stay content because it has arrived at gain-
ing the general light ; nay, it ought to go on with all zeal to
the perfect light. For since men are at first imperfect rather
than perfect, they should advance in light to perfection. Two
kinds of perfect people walk in this perfect light. There are

TO BROTHER WILLIAM OF ENGLAND 61

some who give themselves to castigating their body perfectly,
doing very great harsh penance ; and that the flesh may not
rebel against the reason, they have placed all their desire
rather on mortifying their body than on slaying their self-will.
These people feed at the table of penitence and are good and
perfect ; but unless they have a great humility and conform
themselves not wholly to judge according to the will of God
and not according to that of men, they often wrong their per-
fection, making themselves judges of those who do not walk
in the same way in which they do.

This happens to them because they have put more thought
and desire on mortifying their body than on slaying their self-
will. Such men as these always want to choose times and
places and mental consolations to suit themselves ; also, worldly
tribulations, and their battles with the devil ; saying, through
self-deceit, beguiled by their own will — which is called
spiritual self-will — " T should like this consolation, and not
these assaults or battles with the devil ; not for my own sake,
but to please God, and possess Him more fully, because I
seem to possess Him better in this way than in that." Many
a time, in such a way as this, the soul falls into suffering and
weariness, and becomes unendurable to itself through them,
and thus wrongs its state of perfection. The odour of pride
clings to it, and this it does not perceive. For, were it truly
humble and not presumptuous, it would see well that the
Sweet Primal Truth gives conditions, time and place, and con-
solation and tribulation, according as is needful to our perfec-
tion, and to fulfil in the soul the perfection to which it is
chosen. It would see that everything is given through love,
and therefore with love.

All things ought to be received with reverence, as is done
by the second class of people, who abide in this sweet and
glorious light, who are perfect in whatever condition they are,
and, in so far as God permits them, hold everything in due

62 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

reverence, esteeming themselves worthy of sufferings and
scandals in the world, and of missing their consolations.
As they hold themselves worthy of sufferings, so they
hold themselves unworthy of the reward which follows
suffering. These have known and tasted in the light the
eternal will of God, which wishes naught but our good, and
that we be sanctified in Him, therefore giving His gifts.
When the soul has known this will, it is arrayed therein, and
cares for nothing save to see in what wise it can grow, and
preserve its condition perfect, for glory and praise of the Name
of God. Therefore, it opens the eye of the mind upon its
object, Christ crucified, who is rule and way and doctrine for
perfect and imperfect : and sees the loving Lamb, Who gives
it the doctrine of perfection, which seeing it loves.

Perfection is this : that the Word, the Son of God, fed at
the table of holy desire for the honour of God and for our
salvation •, and with this desire ran with great zeal to the
shameful death of the Cross, avoiding neither toil nor labour,
not drawing back for the ingratitude and ignorance of us men
who did not recognize His benefits, nor for the persecution of
the Jews, nor for mockery or insults or criticism of the
people, but underwent them all, like our captain and true
knight, who was come to teach us His way and rule and
doctrine, opening the door with the keys of His precious
Blood, shed with ardent love and hatred against sin. As says
this sweet, loving Word, " Behold, I have made you a way,
and opened the door with My blood. Be you then not negli-
gent to follow it, and do not sit yourselves down in self-love,
ignorantly failing to know the Way, and presumptuously
wishing to choose it after your own fashion, and not after
Mine who made it. Rise up then, and follow Me : for no
one can go to the Father but by Me. I am the Way and the
Door."

Then the soul, enamoured and tormented with love, runs to

TO BROTHER WILLIAM OF ENGLAND 63

the table of holy desire, and sees not itself in itself, seeking
private consolation, spiritual or temporal, but, as one who has
wholly destroyed his own will in this light and knowledge,
refuses no toil from whatever side it comes. Nay, in suffer-
ing, in pain, in many assaults from the devil and criticisms
from men, it seeks upon the table of the Cross the food of the
honour of God and the salvation of men. And it seeks no
reward, from God or from fellow-creatures 5 such men serve
God, not for their own joy, and the neighbour not for their
own will or profit, but from pure love. They lose themselves,
divesting them of the old man, their fleshly desires, and array
them in the new man, Christ sweet Jesus, following Him man-
fully. These are they who feed at the table of holy desire,
and have more zeal for slaying their self-will than for slaying
and mortifying the body. They have mortified the body, to
be sure, but not as a chief aim, but as the tool which it is, to
help in slaying self- will-; for one's chief aim ought to be and
is to slay the will ; that it may seek and wish naught save to
follow Christ crucified, seeking the honour and glory of His
Name, and the salvation of souls. Such men abide ever in
peace and quiet ; there are none who can offend them, be-
cause they have cast away the thing that gives offence — that
is, self-will. All the persecutions which the world and the
devil can inflict run away beneath their feet ; they stand in the
water, made fast to the twigs of eager desire, and are not
submerged. Such a man as this rejoices in everything ; he
does not make himself a judge of the servants of God, nor
of any rational creature ; nay, he rejoices in every condition
and every type that he sees, saying, " Thanks be to Thee,
eternal Father, that Thou hast many mansions in Thy House."
And he rejoices more in the different kinds of men that he
sees than he v/ould do in seeing them all walk in the same
way, for so he sees the greatness of God's goodness more
manifest. He joys in everything, and gets from it the

64 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

fragrance of roses. And even as to a thing which he may
expressly see to be sin, he does not pose as a judge, but
regards it rather with holy true compassion, saying, " To-day
it is thy turn, and to-morrow mine, unless it be for divine
grace which preserves me."

Oh, holy minds, who feed at the table of holy desire, who
have attained in great light to nourish you with holy food,
clothed with the sweet raiment of the Lamb, His love and
charity ! You do not lose time in accepting false judgments,
either of the servants of God or of the servants of the world ;
you do not take offence at any criticism, either against your-
selves or others. Your love toward God and your neighbour
is governed well, and not ungoverned. And because it is
governed, such men as these, dearest son, never take offence at
those whom they love ; for appearances are dead to them, and
they have submitted themselves not to be guided by men, but
only by the Holy Spirit. See then, these enjoy in this life the
pledge of life eternal.

I wish you and the other ignorant sons to reach this light,
for I see that this perfection is lacking to you and to others.
For were it not lacking to you, you would not have fallen into
such criticism and offence and false judgment, as to say and
believe that another man was guided and mastered by the will
of the creature and not of the Creator. My soul and my heart
grieve to see you wrong the perfection to which God has
called you, under pretence of love and odour of virtue. Never-
theless, these are the tares which the devil has sowed in the
field of the Lord ; he has done this to choke the seed of holy
desire and doctrine sowed in your fields. Will then to do so
no more, since God has of grace given you great lights ; the
first, to despise the world ; the second, to mortify the body ;
the third, to seek the honour of God. Do not wrong this
perfection with spiritual self-will, but rise from the table of
penance and attain the table of the desire of God, where the

TO BROTHER WILLIAM OF ENGLAND 65

soul is wholly dead to its own will, nourishing itself with-
out suffering on the honour of God and the salvation of souls,
growing in perfection and not wronging it.

Therefore, considering that this condition cannot be had
without light, and seeing that you had it not, I said that I
desired and desire to see you in true and perfect light. Thus
I pray you, by the love of Christ crucified — you and Brother
Antonio and all the others — that you struggle to win it, so
that you may be numbered among the perfect and not among
the imperfect. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. I commend me to all of you. Bathe you in
the Blood of Christ crucified. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO DANIELLA OF ORVIETO
CLOTHED WITH THE HABIT OF ST. DOMINIC

Thou seest, then, that such men enjoy in this life the pledge of
life eternal. They receive, not the payment, but the pledge —
not waiting to receive it till the enduring life, where is life
without death, satiety without disgust, and hunger without
pain. For far is the pain of hunger, since they have completely
what they desire ; and far is the disgust of satiety, since that
is the Food of Life without any lack. It is true that in this
life one begins to enjoy the pledge, in this way, that the soul
begins to be an-hungered for the food of the honour of God
and the salvation of souls. As it is an-hungered, so it feeds
thereon ; yes, the soul nourishes itself on charity for the
neighbour, for whom it has a hungry desire. That is a food
which never satisfies those nourished on it. It never satiates,
and therefore hunger lasts for ever. As a pledge is a beginning
of surety given to a man, through which he expects to receive
payment (not that the pledge is perfect in itself, but it gives
assurance through one's trust, that fulfilment will come), so
the soul enamoured of Christ, which has already received in this
life the pledge of love for God and its neighbour, is not perfect
in itself, but awaits the perfection of the life immortal. I say
that this pledge is not perfect — that is, the soul which enjoys
it has not yet reached such perfection as not to feel suffer-
ings, in itself or others : in itself, from the wrong it does to
God, through the perverse law which is bound into our
members ; and in others, from the wrong of the neighbour.
It is, to be sure, perfect in grace, but it has not the perfection
of the saints, who are in the eternal life, as I said ; since their
desires are free from suffering and ours are not. Dost thou

TO DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 67

know how it is with the true servant of God, who nourishes
him at the table of holy desire ? He is blessed and grieving,
as was the Son of God upon the wood of the Most Holy
Cross • for the flesh of Christ was grieved and tortured, and
the soul was blessed, through its union with the Divine
Nature. So, through the union of our desire with God, ought
we to be blessed, and clothed with His sweet will ; and
grieving, through compassion for our neighbour, casting from
us sensuous joys and comforts and mortifying our flesh.

But listen, daughter and dearest sister. I have spoken to
thee and me in general, but now I shall speak to thee and me
in particular. I want us to do two special things, in order
that ignorance may not hinder our perfection, to which God
calls us ; that the devil, under cloak of virtue and love of the
neighbour, may not nourish the root of presumption within our
soul. For from this we shall fall into false judgments ; seeming
to ourselves to judge aright, we shall judge crookedly : often,
if we followed our own impressions, the devil would make
us see many truths to lead us into falsehood ; and this, because
we make ourselves judges of the minds of our fellow-creatures,
which are for God alone to judge.

This is one of the two things from which I wish that we
should free ourselves completely. But I want the lesson to
be learned reasonably. This is the reasonable way : if God
expressly, not only once or twice, but more often, reveals the
fault of a neighbour to our mind, we ought never to tell it in
particular to the person whom it concerns, but to correct
in common the vices of all those whom it befalls us to judge,
and to implant virtues, tenderly and benignly. Severity in the
benignity, as may be needed. And should it seem that God
showed us repeatedly the faults of another, yet unless there
were, as I said, a special revelation, keep on the safer side,
that we may escape the deceit and malice of the devil ; for he
would catch us with this hook of desire. On thy lips, then,

68 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

let silence abide, and holy talk of virtues, and disdain of vice.
And any vice that it may seem to thee to recognize in others,
do thou ascribe at once to them and to thyself, using ever
a true humility. If that vice really exists in any such person,
he will correct himself better, seeing himself so gently under-
stood, and will say that to thee which thou wouldest have said
to him. And thou wilt be safe, and wilt close the way to the
devil, who will be unable to deceive us or to hinder the per-
fection of thy soul. Know that we ought not to trust in any
appearances, but to put them behind our backs, and abide only
in the perception and knowledge of ourselves. And if it
ever happened that we were praying particularly for some
fellow-creatures, and in prayer we saw some light of grace in
one of those for whom we were praying, and none in another,
who was also a servant of God — but thou didst seem to see
him with his mind abased and sterile — do not therefore assume
to judge that there is grave fault or lack in him, for it might
be that thy opinion was false. For it happens sometimes that
when one is praying for the same person, one occasion will
find him in such light and holy desire before God that the soul
will seem to fatten on his welfare; and on another occasion
thou shalt find him when his soul seems so far from God, and
full of shadows and temptations, that it is toil to whoso
prays for him to hold him in God's presence. This may
happen sometimes through a fault of him for whom one is
praying, but more often it is due not to a fault, but to God's
having withdrawn Himself from this soul — that is, He has
withdrawn Himself as to any feeling of sweetness and conso-
lation, though not as to grace. So the soul will have stayed
sterile, dry, and full of pain — which God makes that soul
which is praying for it perceive. And God does this in mercy
to that soul which receives the prayer, that thou mayest aid
Him to scatter the cloud. So thou seest, sweet my sister,
how ignorant and worthy of rebuke our opinion would be, if

TO DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 69

simply from these appearances we judged that there was vice
in this soul. Therefore, if God showed it to us so troubled
and darkened, when we have already seen that it was not
deprived of grace* but only of the sweetness of feeling God's
presence — I beg thee, then, thee and me and every servant of
God, that we apply us to knowing ourselves perfectly, that
we may more perfectly know the goodness of God ; so that,
illumined, we may abandon judging our neighbour, and adopt
true compassion, hungering to proclaim virtues and reprove
sin in both ourselves and them, in the way we spoke of before.
We have spoken of one thing, but now I tell thee of the
other, which I beg that we rebuke in ourselves : if sometimes
the devil or our own very evil construction of matters tor-
mented us by making us want to send or see all the servants
of God walking in the same way that we are walking in our-
selves. For it frequently happens that a soul which sees
itself advance by way of great penance, would like to send
all people by that same way ; and if it sees that they do not
walk there, it is displeased and shocked, feeling that they are
not doing right 2 while sometimes it will happen that the man
is doing better and being more virtuous than his critic, although
he does not do as much penance. For perfection does not
consist in macerating or killing the body, but in killing our
perverse self-will. And in this way, of the will destroyed,
submitted to the sweet "Will of God, we ought indeed to
desire all men to walk. Good is penance and the maceration
of the body ; but do not show me these as a rule for every
one, since all bodies are not alike, and also since it often
happens that a penance begun has to be given up from many
accidents that may occur. If, then, we made ourselves or
others build on penance as a foundation, it might come to
nothing, and be so imperfect that consolation and virtue would
fail the soul ; for, deprived of the thing which it loved and
had made of prime importance, it would seem to be deprived

70 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

of God, and so would fall into weariness and very great sad-
ness and bitterness, and would lose in the bitterness the activity
and fervent prayer to which it was accustomed. So thou seest
what evil would follow from making penance alone one's chief
concern : we should be ignorant, and should fall into a critical
attitude, and become weary and very bitter ; we should strive
to give only a finite work to God, who is Infinite Good that
demands from us infinite desire. We ought, then, to build our
foundation on killing and destroying our own perverse will ;
with that will submitted to the will of God, we shall devote
sweet, hungry, infinite desire to the honour of God and the
salvation of souls. Thus shall we feed at the table of that
holy desire which never takes offence either at itself or at its
neighbour, but rejoices and finds fruit in everything. Miserable
woman that I am, I mourn that I never followed this true
doctrine ; nay, I have done the contrary, and therefore I feel
that I have often fallen into irritation and a judicial attitude
toward my neighbour. Wherefore I pray thee, by the love of
Christ Crucified, that for this and for my every other infirmity,
healing may be found ; so that thou and I may begin to-day to
walk in the way of truth, enlightened to build our true founda-
tion on holy desire, and not trusting in appearances and im-
pressions ; so that we may not lightly neglect ourselves and
judge the faults of our neighbours, unless by way of compassion
or general rebuke.

This we shall do if we nourish us at the table of holy
desire : otherwise we cannot. For from desire we have light,
and light gives us desire ; so one nourishes the other. There-
fore I said that I desired to see thee in the true light. I say
no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO MONNA AGNESE
WIFE OF FRANCESCO, A TAILOR OF FLORENCE

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, ser-
vant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee
in His precious Blood, with desire to see thee clothed in true
and perfect humility — for that is a little virtue which makes
us great in the sweet sight of God. This is the virtue which
constrained and inclined God to make His most sweet Son
incarnate in the "Womb of Mary. It is as exalted as the
proud are humbled ; it shines in the sight of God and men ; it
binds the hands of the wicked, it unites the soul with God,
it purifies and laves away the soil of our sin, and calls on God
to show us mercy. I will then, sweetest daughter, that thou
strive to embrace this glorious virtue, so that thou mayest
pass over the stormy sea of this world free from storm and
peril.

Now comfort thee in this sweet and sincere virtue, and
bathe thee in the Blood of Christ crucified. And when thou
canst empty thy time for prayer, I pray thee to do it. And
love tenderly every rational being. Then, I beg and command
thee not to fast, except, when thou canst, on the days com-
manded by Holy Church. And when thou dost not feel
strong enough to fast then, do not observe them. At other
times, do not fast, except when thou feelest able, on Saturday.
"When this heat is over, fast on the days of Holy Mary, if
thou canst, and no more. And drink something beside water
every day. Labour hard to increase thy holy desire, and let

72 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

these other things alone for the future. Do not be anxious
or depressed over us, for we are all well. When it shall
please the Divine Goodness, we shall see one another again.
I say no more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet grace
of God. Comfort my sweet daughters, Ursula and Ginevra.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

LETTERS IN RESPONSE TO
CERTAIN CRITICISMS

Catherine had ample opportunity to suffer from those keenly
critical instincts of the respectable which she reproved in the
last group of letters. Her life was full of eager unconven-
tionalities that drew down on her the frequent distrust of her
co-religionists and fellow-townsmen. We cannot tell what
special cause had excited the indignation of the loyal friends
to whom the following note is written ; but we may enjoy
the spirit of fresh and pure humility in which Catherine gives
them the difficult injunction to acquiesce in any criticism made
upon her.

The very matters which were later to be considered as
proofs of her sanctity, were during her lifetime grounds of
suspicion. Some unknown, exercised in his mind over the
reports of her extraordinary abstinence, took evidently what
would to-day appear the somewhat impertinent course of
writing her a letter of remonstrance. Catherine's inability
or reluctance to eat as much as others was one of the most
interesting marvels of her life to her simple contemporaries.
It is clear, that partly from the extreme mortification which
according to mediaeval custom she inflicted on her flesh from
childhood, her condition became at an early age thoroughly
abnormal. Salads and water were practically her only diet ;
the curious are referred to the copious details furnished by
her biographers. Meantime, the present letter shows how
reasonable was her own attitude in the matter. It shows also
with what gentle dignity she received criticism. The little

74 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

touch at the end — " I pray you not to be light in judging, if
you are not surely illumined in the sight of God " — is the
only hint at a natural impulse of resentment : unless one reads,
as it is tempting to do, a delicate irony in the opening portion
of the letter.

TO MONNA ORSA
WIFE OF BARTOLO USIMBARDI

AND TO MONNA AGNESE

WIFE OF FRANCESCO DI PIPINO

TAILOR OF FLORENCE

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to
you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you persevere
in holy desire, so that you may never look back. For other-
wise you would not receive your reward, and would transgress
the word of the Saviour, which says that we are not to turn back
to look at the furrow. Be persevering, then, and contemplate
not what is done, but what you have to do. And what have
we to do ? To turn our affections constantly back toward
God, despising the world with all its joys, and loving virtue,
bearing with true patience what the divine goodness permits
us j considering that whatever He gives is given for our good
that we may be sanctified in Him. We shall find in the Blood
that the truth is thus. So we ought to fill our memory with
this glorious Blood, which shows us so sweet a truth, that we
may never be without the recollection of it. Thus I want
you to do, dearest daughters : that in this life you shall
persevere until death, and at the close of your life shall
receive the Eternal Vision of God. I say no more here.

I reprove thee, dearest my sweet daughter, because thou
hast not kept in mind what I told thee — not to answer anyone

y6 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

who should say to thee anything about myself that seemed to
thee less than good. Now I do not wish thee to do so any
more, but I wish both of you to reply to anyone who narrated
my faults to you in this wise — that they are not telling so
many that a great many more might not be told. Tell them
to be moved by compassion within their hearts in the sight of
God, as they appear to be by their tongues — and to pray the
Divine Goodness earnestly for me, that It will correct my life.
Then say to them that it is the Highest Judge who will
punish my every fault, and reward every labour that shall be
borne for His Name. As to Monna Paula, I do not wish thee
to be in the least indignant with her : but think that she is
acting like a good mother, who wants to test her daughter to
see whether she has virtue or not. I confess truthfully that
I have found little success in myself; but I have hope in my
Creator, who will make me correct myself and change my
way of life. Comfort you, and give yourselves no more pain;
for we shall find ourselves united in the fire of divine Charity,
a union that shall be taken from us neither by demon nor by
creature. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO A RELIGIOUS MAN IN FLORENCE
WHO WAS SHOCKED AT HER ASCETIC PRACTICES

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest and most beloved father in Christ sweet Jesus :
I Catherine, a useless servant of Jesus Christ, commend me
to you : with the desire to see us united and transformed in
that sweet, eternal and pure Truth which destroys in us all
falsity and lying. I thank you cordially, dearest father, for
the holy zeal and jealousy which you have toward my soul :
in that you are apparently very anxious over what you hear
of my life. I am certain that nothing affects you except
desire for the honour of God and for my salvation, which
makes you fear the assaults and illusions of devils. As to
your special fear, father, concerning my behaviour about
eating, I am not surprised ; for I assure you, that not only
do you fear, but I myself tremble, for fear of devilish wiles.
Were it not that I trust in the goodness of God, and distrust
myself, knowing that in myself I can have no confidence.
For you sent, asking me whether or no I believed that I might
be deceived, saying that if I did not believe so, that was a wile
of the devil. I answer you, that not only about this, which
is above the nature of the body, but about all my other
activities also, I am always afraid, on account of my frailty
and the astuteness of the devil, and think that I may be
deceived ; for I am perfectly well aware that the devil lost
beatitude, but not wisdom, with which wisdom, as I said,
I recognized that he might deceive me. But then I turn me,
and lean against the Tree of the Most Holy Cross of Christ

78 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

crucified, and there will I fasten me ; and I do not doubt that
if I shall be nailed and held with Him by love and with
profound humility, the devils will have no power against me —
not through my virtue, but through the virtue of Christ
crucified.

You sent me word to pray God particularly that I might
eat. I tell you, my father, and I say it in the sight of God,
that in all ways within my power I have always forced myself
once or twice a day to take food. And I have prayed
constantly, and do pray God and shall pray Him, that in
this matter of eating He will give me grace to live like other
creatures, if it is His will — for it is mine. I tell you, that
often enough, when I have done what I could, I enter within
myself, to recognize my infirmity, and God, who by most
special grace has made me correct the sin of gluttony.
I grieve much that I have not corrected that miserable fault
of mine through love. I for myself do not know what other
remedy to adopt, except that I beg you to pray that Highest
Eternal Truth, that He give me grace, if it is more for His
honour and the salvation of my soul, to enable me to take food
if it please Him. And I am sure that the goodness of God
will not despise your prayers. I beg you that if you see any
remedy you will write me of it ; and provided it be for the
honour of God, I will accept it willingly. Also I beg you not
to be light in judging, if you are not clearly illumined in the
sight of God. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy
and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO BROTHER BARTOLOMEO DOMINIC1

OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS WHEN

HE WAS BIBLE READER AT FLORENCE

Belief in the wrath to come is sufficiently real to Catherine,
and the current demonology of her day slips readily from her
tongue. These things she accepted as she found them. But
the atmosphere in which her spirit breathes is the perception
of the love of God. The spiritual history of the race, from
the creation to the coming of the Spirit and the perpetual
support of the soul in the Sacrament of the Altar, is to her
a revelation of the One encompassing Love, poured forth in
fresh measure and under new forms at each stage in the
movement of human destiny.

And so, in this little letter, she invites us to enter with her
the "peaceful and profound sea" found in the words "God
is Love." Elsewhere, both in her Dialogue and in a letter to
one Brother Matteo Tolomei, she analyses with keen insight
the relations which redeemed humanity can bear to the Loving
God; she tells us how the servant, obedient through fear,
may become the friend, obedient through gratitude and desire
for spiritual blessings ; and how these lower loves, through
the operation of the Holy Spirit, may be transformed into the
love of the son, who seeks God for His own sake, " with
nothing between." And how shall human love, when it has
reached this point, reflect the love of Him who " needs not
man's work nor His own gifts ? " How become, not merely
receptive, but active and creative ? Catherine gives the simple
Christian answer : " God has loved us without being loved,

80 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

but we love Him because we are loved. . . . We cannot be of
any profit to Him, nor love Him with this first love. Yet
God demands of us, that as He has loved us without any
second thoughts, so He should be loved by us. In what way
can we do this, then, since He demands it of us and we cannot
give it to Him ? I tell you : through a means which He has
established by which we can love Him freely, and without
the least regard to any profit of ours : we can be useful, not to
Him, which is impossible, but to our neighbour. . . . To show
the love we have to Him, we ought to serve and love every
rational creature. . . . Every virtue receives life from love, and
love is gained in love, that is, by raising the eye of our mind
to behold how much we are beloved of God. Seeing our-
selves loved, we cannot do otherwise than love. ... So thou
seest that we conceive virtues through God and bring them
to the birth for our neighbour."

Thus do Catherine's loftiest meditations end on the practical
note. Her fundamental thought, here as elsewhere, is strik-
ingly akin to the thought of St. Bernard. Love yourself not
for your own sake, but for God ! she constantly repeats. To
the same effect, Bernard describes at length the progress of
the soul till it reaches the highest stage, in which self-love
is so lost that even gratitude is left behind, and man loves
himself and God for the sake of God alone.

TO BROTHER BARTOLOMEO DOMINICI 81

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

To you, most beloved and dear father, through reverence of
the most sweet Sacrament, and son in Christ Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write and send comfort in His precious Blood, with desire to
see you kindled, on fire, and consumed in His most ardent
charity, since I know that he who is on fire and consumed
with this charity sees not himself. This, then, I will that you
do. I summon you to enter through this most ardent charity,
a sea that is peaceful and profound. This I have just now
found anew — not that the sea is new, but that it is new to
me in the feeling of my soul — in that word, God is Love.
And in this word, as the mirror reflects the face of man, and
the sun its light upon the earth, so it is reflected in my soul,
that all His works whatsoever are Love alone, for they are not
wrought of anything save love. Therefore He says, "I
God am Love." From this a light is thrown on the unsearch-
able mystery of the Incarnate Word, who by force of love
was given with such humility that it confounds my pride, and
teaches us not to regard His works, but the burning devotion
of the Word given to us. He says that we should do as he
who loves : who, when his friend comes with a present, looks
not at the hands for the gift which he brings, but opens the
eye of love, and regards his heart and affection. So He wills
that we should do, when the Highest eternal goodness of
God, sweet above all things, visits our soul. It visits us then
with measureless benefits. Let memory act swiftly to receive
the intention in the divine charity : and let the will arise with
most ardent desire, and receive and behold the sacrificed
Heart of sweet and good Jesus the Giver : and thus you shall
find you kindled and clothed with fire, and with the gift of

82 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

the Blood of the Son of God ; and you shall be free from all
pain and disease. This it was which took away the pain of
the holy disciples, when it behoved them to leave Mary and
one another, and gladly they endured that separation, to sow
the word of God. Run then, run, run.

Concerning the affairs of Benincasa, I cannot reply unless I
am at Siena. Thank Messer Nicolao for the charity which he
has shown for them. Alessa and I and Cecca, poor women,
commend ourselves to you a thousand thousand times. May
God be ever in your soul, amen. Jesus, Jesus.

Catherine, servant of the servants of God.

TO BROTHER MATTEO
DI FRANCESCO TOLOMEI

OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood, with desire to see you seek God in truth, not
through the intervention of your own fleshliness or of any
other creature, for we cannot please God through any inter-
vening means. God gave us the Word, His Only-Begotten
Son, without regard to His own profit. This is true, that we
cannot be of any profit to Him ; but the reverse is not the
case, because, although we do not serve God for our profit,
nevertheless we profit just the same. To Him belongs the
flower of honour, and to us the fruit of profit. He has loved
us without being loved, and we love because we are loved :
He loves us of grace, and we Him of duty, because we are
bound to love Him, "We cannot be of any profit to God just
as we cannot love Him of grace, without duty. For we are
bound to Him, and not He to us, because before He was
loved, He loved us, and therefore created us in His Image and
Likeness. There it is, then : we cannot be of any profit to
Him, nor love Him with this first love. Yet I say that God
demands of us, that as He has loved us without any second
thoughts, so He should be loved by us. In what way can we
do this, then, since He demands it of us, and we cannot give
it Him ? I tell you : through a means which He has estab-
lished, by which we can love Him freely, and without the

84 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

least regard to any profit of ours •, that is, we can be useful,
not to Him, which is impossible, but to our neighbour. Now
by this means we can obey what He demands of us for the
glory and praise of His Name ; to show the love that we have
for Him, we ought to serve and love every rational creature,
and extend our charity to good and bad, to every kind of
people, as much to one who does us ill service and criticises
us as to one who serves us. For God is no respecter of
persons, but of holy desires, and His charity extends over just
men and sinners.

One man, to be sure, He loves as a son, and one as a friend,
and another as a servant, and another as a person who has de-
parted from Him, for whose return He longs — these last are
the wicked sinners who are deprived of grace. But wherein
does the Highest Father show His love to these ? In lending
them time, and in time He gives them many opportunities,
either to repent of their sins, taking from them place and
power to do as much ill as they would, or He has many other
ways to make them hate vice and love virtue, the love of which
takes away the wish to sin. And so, through the time which
God gave them in love, from foes they are made friends, and
have grace and are fit to become the Father's heirs.

He loves as sons those who serve Him in truth without any
servile fear, who have annulled and killed their self-will, and
are through God obedient till death to every rational creature :
no mercenaries they, who serve Him for their own profit, but
sons ; and they despise consolations and joy in tribulations, and
seek only in what way they can conform them to Christ
crucified, and nourish them on His shames and labours and
sorrows. Such men seek not God nor serve Him for sweet-
ness or consolation, spiritual or temporal, which they receive
from God or the fellow-creature; they seek not God for their
own sakes, nor the neighbour, but God for God, inasmuch as
He is worthy of being loved, and themselves for God, for the

BROTHER MATTEO DI FRANCESCO TOLOMEI 85

glory and praise of His Name ; and they serve their neigh-
bour for God, being of what profit they may to Him. These
men follow the footsteps of the Father, rejoicing wholly in
charity toward their neighbour, loving the servants of God
through the love with which they love their Creator; and
they love imperfect men through love that they should reach
perfection, devoting to them holy desire and continual prayers.
They love wicked men, who lie in the death of mortal sin,
because they are rational beings, created by God, and bought
by the same Blood as they, wherefore they mourn over their
condemnation, and to rescue them would give themselves to
bodily death. As to the persecutors and slanderers and
judges who take offence at them, they love these both because
they are creatures of God, as I said, and also because they
are the means and cause of testing their virtue, and helping
them reach perfection — especially as to that royal virtue
patience, a sweet virtue, which is never offended or disturbed,
nor cast down by any contrary wind or any molesting of men.
Such men are those who seek God with nothing between, and
love Him truly as dear and lawful sons ; and He loves them
as a true father, and shows them the secret of His charity, to
make them heirs of His eternal kingdom, wherefore they run,
refreshed by the Blood of Christ, kindled by the fire of
divine charity, by which they are perfectly illumined. Such
men do not run in the path of virtue after their own fashion,
nay, but after the fashion of Christ crucified, following in His
steps. Were it possible for them to serve God and win virtue
without labour, they would not wish it. These men do not
act like the second kinds of men, the friend and the servant,
for the service of these last has some ulterior thought.
Sometimes it has regard to the man's own profit ; one can
reach great friendship in this way, when he knows his need,
and his benefactor, who, as he sees, can and will help him.
Yet first he was a servant, for he knew his own wrong-doing,

86 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

on which followed punishment ; so from the fear of punish-
ment he drives out his sin, and lovingly embraces virtue,
serving his Lord, whom he has wronged ; and he begins to
draw hope from His benignity, considering that He wills not
the death of a sinner, but that he be converted and live. If
the man abode in fear alone, it would not suffice to give him
life, nor would he attain to the perfect favour of his Lord ;
but he would be a mercenary servant. Nor ought he to
remain only in the love of the fruit and the consolation which
he might receive from his Lord, after he has been made a
friend ; for this kind of love would not be strong, but would
fail when it was deprived of sweetness or consolation and joy
of mind, or else when some contrary wind struck it, of perse-
cution or temptation from the devil ; then at once it would
fail under temptations of the devil or vexations of the flesh.
So it would fall into confusion through being deprived of
mental consolation \ and in the persecutions and insults
wrought against it by fellow-creatures, it would fall into
impatience.

So you see, that this kind of love is not strong. Nay, he
who loves with this love does as St. Peter, who before the
Passion loved Christ tenderly ; but he was not strong, therefore
he failed in the time of the Cross : but then, after the coming
of the Holy Spirit, he separated him from the love of sweet-
ness, and lost fear, and reached a love strong, and tried in
the fire of many tribulations. Thence, having reached the
love of a son, he bore all such with true patience — nay, ran
under them in great gladness, as he had been going to a marriage
feast and not to torment. This was because he had been made
a son. But had Peter remained absorbed in the sweetness and
the fear which he felt in the Passion and after the Passion of
Christ, he would not have reached such perfection as to be
a son and champion of Holy Church, a lover and seeker of
souls. But note the way that Peter took, and the other dis-

BROTHER MATTEO DI FRANCESCO TOLOMEI 87

ciples, to gain power to lose their servile fear and love of
consolations, and to receive the Holy Spirit, as had been
promised them by the Sweet Primal Truth. Therefore says
the Scripture that they shut them in the house, and stayed
there in vigil and continual prayers ; they stayed ten days, and
then came the Holy Spirit.

Now this is the teaching which we and every rational crea-
ture ought to receive ; to shut ourselves into the house, and
remain in vigil and continual prayer : to stay ten days, and then
we shall receive the plenitude of the Holy Spirit. Who, when
He was come, illumined them with truth j and they saw the
secret of the immeasurable love of the Word, with the will
of the Father, who willed naught but our sanctifi cation. This
has been shown us by the Blood of that sweet and enamoured
Word : who was restored to His disciples, when the plenitude
of the Holy Spirit came. He came with the power of the
Father, the wisdom of the Son, the mercy and clemency of
the Holy Spirit ; so the truth of Christ is fulfilled, which He
spake to His disciples : I shall go and shall return to you.
Then did He return, because the Holy Spirit could not come
without the Son and the Father, because He was one thing
with them. Thus He came, as I said, with the power that is
assigned to the Father, and the wisdom that is assigned to the
Son, and the benevolence and love that is assigned to the Holy
Spirit. Well did the Apostles show it, for suddenly through
love they lost their fear. So in true wisdom they knew the
truth, and went with great power against the infidels ; they
threw idols to the ground and drove out devils. This was not
with the power of the world, nor with bodily fortitude, but
with strength of spirit and the power of God, which they had
received through Divine grace. Now thus it will happen to
those who have arisen from the filth of mortal sin and the
misery of this world, and begin to taste the Highest Good and
enamour themselves of His sweetness. But as I have said, by

88 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

remaining in fear alone, one would not escape hell ; but would
do like the thief, who does not steal, because he is afraid of
the gallows ; but he would not abstain from stealing if he
did not expect to be punished. It is just such a case when
one loves God for the sweetness of it ; that is, one would not
be strong and perfect, but weak and imperfect.

The way to arrive at perfection is that of the disciples, as
I said. That is, as Peter and the others shut themselves into
the house, so those have done and should do who have attained
the love of the Father, who are sons. Those who wish to
reach this state should enter the house, and shut themselves
in ; that is, the house of the knowledge of themselves, which
is the cell that the soul should inhabit. Within this cell
another cell is found, that of the knowledge of the goodness
of God in Himself. So from knowledge of self the soul
draws true humility, with holy hatred of the wrong which it
has done to its Creator, and by this it attains to true and holy
patience. And from the knowledge of God, which it finds in
itself, it wins the virtue of most ardent charity : whence it
draws holy and loving desires. In this wise it finds vigil and
continual prayer — that is, while it abides enclosed in so sweet
and glorious a thing as is the knowledge of itself and of God.
It keeps vigil, I say, not only with the eye of the body, but
with the eye of the soul ; that is, the eye of the intellect never
sees itself closed, but remains opened upon its Object and in-
effable Love, Christ crucified : and there it finds love, and its
own guilt. For that guilt, Christ gave us His Blood. Then
the soul uplifts itself with deepest devotion, to love what God
loves and to hate what He hates. And it directs all its works
in God, and does everything to the glory and praise of His
Name. This is the continual prayer of which Paul says,
"Pray without ceasing." Now this is the way to rise from
being only a servant and a friend — that is, from servile fear and
from tender love of one's own consolation — and to arrive at

BROTHER MATTEO DI FRANCESCO TOLOMEI 89

being a true servant, true friend, true son. For when one
is truly made a son, he does not therefore lose being a servant
and true friend ; but is a servant and friend in truth, with-
out any regard to himself, or to anything except pleasing
God alone.

We said that they abode ten days, and then came the Holy
Spirit. So the soul, which wishes to arrive at this perfection,
must observe ten days, that is the ten commandments of the
law. And with the legal commandments it will observe the
Counsels ; for they are bound together, and the one cannot be
observed without the other. True, those who are in the
world must observe the Counsels mentally, through holy
desire, and those who are freed from the world must observe
them both mentally and actually. Thus, if the soul receives
the abundance of the Holy Spirit, with true wisdom of true
and perfect light and knowledge, and with fortitude and power
to make it strong in every battle, it becomes mighty chiefly
against itself, lording it over its own fleshly nature. But all
this you could not do if you went roaming about, in much
conversation, keeping far from the cell, and neglecting the
choir. Whence, considering this, I said to you when you left ,
me that you should study to flee conversation and to visit the
cell, and not to abandon the choir or the refectory (so far as
might be possible to you), and to keep vigil with humble
prayer : and thus to fulfil my desire, when I told you that
I desired to see you seek God in truth, without anything
between. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO A MANTELLATA OF SAINT DOMINIC
CALLED CATARINA DI SCETTO

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

My dearest sister and daughter in Christ sweet Jesus. I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write to thee in His precious Blood, with desire to see thee a
true servant and bride of Christ crucified. Servants we ought
to be, because we are bought with His blood. But I do not
see that we can be of any profit to Him by our service ; we
ought, then, to be of profit to our neighbour, because he is the
means by which we test and gain virtue. Thou knowest that
every virtue receives life from love ; and love is gained in
love, that is, by raising the eye of our mind to behold how
much we are beloved of God. Seeing ourselves loved, we
cannot do otherwise than love ; loving Him, we shall embrace
virtue through the force of love, and shall hate vice and
spurn it.

So thou seest that we conceive virtues through God, and
bring them to the birth for our neighbour. Thou knowest
well that for the necessity of thy neighbour thou bringest forth
the child charity that is within thy soul, and patience in the
wrongs which thou receivest from him. Thou givest him
prayer, particularly to those who have done thee wrong. And
thus we ought to do ; if men are untrue to us, we ought to be
true to them, and faithfully to seek their salvation ; loving
them of grace, and not by barter. That is, do thou beware
not to love thy neighbour for thine own profit ; for that
would not be faithful love, and thou wouldst not respond to
the love which God bears thee. For as God has loved thee

TO A MANTELLATA OF SAINT DOMINIC 91

of grace, so He wills that since thou canst not return this love
to Him, thou return it to thy neighbour, loving him of grace
and not by barter, as*I said. Neither if thou art wronged, nor
if thou shouldst see love toward thee, or thy joy or profit
lessened, must thou lessen or stint love toward thy neighbour;
but love him tenderly, bearing and enduring his faults ; and
beholding with great consolation and reverence the servants
of God.

Beware lest thou do like mad and foolish people who want
to set themselves to investigate and judge the deeds and habits
of the servants of God. He who does this is entirely worthy
of severe rebuke. Know that it would not be different from
setting a law and rule to the Holy Spirit if we wished to make
the servants of God all walk in our own way — a thing which
could never be done. Let the soul inclined to this kind of
judgment think that the root of pride is not yet out, nor true
charity toward the neighbour planted — that is, the loving him
by grace and not by barter. Then let us love the servants of
God, and not judge them. Nay, it befits us to love in general
every rational creature : those who are outside of grace we
must love with grief and bitterness over their fault, because
they wrong God and their own soul. Thus thou shalt be
in accord with that sweet enamoured Paul, who mourns with
those who mourn, and joys with those who joy ; thus thou
shalt mourn with those who are in mournful state, through
desire for the honour of God and for their salvation 5 and thou
shalt joy with the servants of God who rejoice, possessing God
through loving tenderness.

Thou seest, then, that through charity to God we conceive
virtues, and through charity toward our neighbours they are
brought to the birth. Being thus — loving thy neighbour
sincerely, without any falsity of love or heart, freely, without
any regard to thine own profit, spiritual or temporal — thou
shalt be a true servant, and respond by means of thy neighbour

92 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

to the love which thy Creator bears thee ; thou shalt be a
faithful, not a faithless bride. Then does the bride fail in faith
to her bridegroom, when she gives to another creature the faith
which she ought to give to him. Thou art a bride, for Christ
in His circumcision showed that He would wed the human
race. Thou, beholding love so ineffable, shouldst love Him
without any means that might be apart from God. Thus art
thou made the servant of thy neighbour, serving him in all
things to the measure of thy power. Verily thou art the
bride of Christ, and shouldst be the servant of thy neighbour.
If thou art a faithful bride, since we can neither be of profit
nor of service to God by the love which we bear Him, we
ought, as I said, to serve our neighbour with true and heartfelt
love. In no other way nor wise can we serve Him. There-
fore I said to thee that I desired to see thee the true servant
and bride of Christ crucified. I say no more. Remain in the
holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

LETTERS TO NERI DI LANDOCCIO
DEI PAGLIARESI

Neri di Landoccio dei Pagliaresi is one of the attractive
group of Catherine's secretaries, which included also Stefano
Maconi and Barduccio Canigiani. There is something very-
charming, wholly Italian and mediaeval, in the thought of the
three highly-born and gently-bred young Tuscans, who, with-
out leaving the world or taking religious vows, attached them-
selves with a pure and passionate devotion to the person of
the Beata Populana, dedicated their time and powers to her
service, caught the fire of her ideals, and after her death
followed her wishes for their future. The faces that appear a
little later in such pictures as Botticelli's " Adoration of the
Magi," help us to understand the type of these young men.

Of the three secretaries, Neri was the first to enter
Catherine's service. It was he who introduced to her most of
the people who later became her disciples, and many letters
yet extant from one and another show that he was devotedly
loved by the little group. He was of a sensitive, subtle, and
despondent temperament — a reader of Dante, himself a poet, a
man given to self-torment, and, as his later life showed,
with a tendency to melancholia. He must have possessed
tact, force, and probably charm, for Catherine more than once
sent him on important embassies — once as harbinger of her
own coming to Pope Gregory at Avignon, and again, at a
later time, to the corrupt and brilliant court of Queen Giovanna
at Naples. In obedience to the dying wish of his spiritual
mother — who probably well understood his needs—he became
a hermit after her death.

94 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

Catherine writes to this fine but fearful soul with an
exquisite tenderness. " Confusion of mind," with its inhibit-
ing sadness and helplessness, is of all evils in the world the
one most abhorrent to her clear, decisive, intuitive nature.
Against this, his besetting danger, she seeks with all her
customary vigour to protect her beloved disciple. The love
rather than the wrath of God was, as we have seen, ever the
chief burden of Catherine's teaching. Never did she dwell on
it more earnestly than here, as with searching insight into the
unfathomable depths of the Divine mercy, she writes firmly :
" His truth is this, that He created us to give us life eternal."
Her words must have brought reassurance to any darkened
vision, while her practical counsels were never more adapted
to individual need than in these peculiarly gentle letters,
written to one whose temptations and spiritual perils were far
different from her own.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus. I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in
His precious Blood : with desire to see thee in the true light,
that in the light may be known the truth of thy Creator. His
truth is this, that He created us to give us life eternal. But
because man rebelled against God, this truth was not fulfilled,
and therefore He descended to the greatest depths to which
descent is possible, when Deity assumed the vesture of our
humanity. So we see in this glorious light that God has been
made man, and this He has done to fulfil His truth in us : and
He has shown this to us verily by the Blood of the Loving
"Word, inasmuch that what we held by faith is proved to us
with the price of that Blood. The creature that has reason
in itself cannot deny that this is so. *

TO NERI DI LANDOCCIO DEI PAGLIARESI 95

I will, then, that thy confusion be consumed and vanish in
the hope of the Blood, and in the fire of the immeasurable
Love of God ; and that nothing remain but the true know-
ledge of thyself, in which thou shalt humble thee and grow,
and nourish light in thy soul. Is not He more ready to pardon
than we to sin ? And is not He the Physician and we the
sick, the Bearer of our iniquities ? And does not He hold
confusion of mind as worse than all other faults ? Yes, truly.
Then, dearest son, open the eye of thine intellect in the light
of most holy faith, and behold how much thou art beloved
of God. And from beholding His love, and the ignorance
and coldness of thy heart, do not fall into confusion ; but let
the flame of holy desire increase, with true knowledge and
humility, as I said. And the more thou seest that thou hast
not responded to such great favours as thy Creator has shown
thee, humble thyself the more, and say with holy resolution :
"What I have not done to-day, I will do now." Thou knowest
that confusion is wholly discordant with the doctrine which
has always been given thee. It is a leprosy that dries up soul
and body, and holds them in continual affliction, and binds the
arms of holy desire, and does not let one do what one would ;
and it makes the soul unendurable to itself, disposing the
mind to conflicts and varying fantasies \ it robs the soul of
supernatural light, and darkens its natural light. So one falls
into great faithlessness, because one does not know the truth
of God, in which He has created us — that is, that He created
us in truth to give us life eternal. Then with living faith,
with holy desire, and with hope in the Blood of Christ, let
the devil of confusion be defeated.

I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of
God. I pray Him to give thee His sweet benediction. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love.

96 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest and sweetest son in Christ sweet Jesus. I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to
thee in His precious Blood : with desire to see in thee the
light of most holy faith, in order that thou mayest never be
shocked by anything that may happen to thee ; but may thy
mind be pacified concerning all the mysteries of God, as thou
beholdest the ineffable love which moved Him to draw forth
from Himself reasonable creatures, and to give us His image
and likeness, and to buy us with the Blood of the humble and
spotless Lamb. Thus doing, thou wilt hold all that happens
to thee in due reverence, and in true humility thou wilt deny
mere appearances, when sometimes through the illusion of the
devil things seem to thee to get out of their right proportion,
through thy many mental occupations and sweet physical
torments. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. May Christ the Blessed give thee His eternal
benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest and sweetest son in Christ sweet Jesus. I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to
thee in His precious Blood : with desire to see thee ever grow
from virtue to virtue, till I behold thee return to that sea
of peace where thou shalt never have any fear of being
separated from God. For the foul perverse law that fights
against the Spirit shall be left on earth, and shall have rendered
its due thereto. I will, sweet my son, that while thou livest
in this life thou exert thee to live dead to all self-will, and
in such death thou shalt win virtue. Thus living, thou shalt

TO NERI DI LANDOCCIO DEI PAGLIARESI 97

resign to earth the law of perverse desire. So thou shalt not
fear lest God permit in thy case what He permitted in that
other, nor shalt thou suffer, because for a little while the
human part of thee is separated from me and from the rest
of the family. Comfort thee, and may that which Truth says
abide in thy mind — that not one person shall be lost out of
His hands. I say out of His hands, because all things are His.
And I know that thou understandest me without many words.
I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO MONNA GIOVANNA AND HER
OTHER DAUGHTERS IN SIENA

"Teach us, O Lord, and enable us to live the life of saints
and angels ! " cried Cardinal Newman. There is a lovely
parallel to Catherine's prayer in the Paternoster of Dante's
blessed souls in Purgatory :

" Come del suo voler gli angeli tuoi
Fan sacrificio a te, cantaado osanna,
Cos! facciano gli uomini de' suoi."

From the gentle thoughts on non-resistance with which
this letter opens, Catherine turns with transition as fine as
sudden to the splendid figure of the holy soul as a horse
without bridle, running most swiftly " from grace to grace,
from virtue to virtue." One is accustomed by Plato — not to
speak of Browning in " The Two Poets of Croisic " — to the
image of the soul as a charioteer. Catherine's metaphor is
less familiar but not less forceful. The will, to her, is only
free when pure : impure and sinful desires, far from being the
sign of liberty, are the bit and bridle that hinder its fiery
course toward God. The same thought, less vividly put,
is found in a modern theologian — Dr. Moberly. " The
real consummation of either moral or immoral character," he
writes, "would exclude the ambiguity which was offered as
the criterion of free will. . . . Full power to sin is not the
key to freedom. On the contrary, all inherent power to do
wrong is a direct infringement of the reality of free-will. . , .
Free-will is not the independence of the creature, but rather
his self-realisation in perfect dependence. Freedom is self-
identity with goodness."

TO MONNA GIOVANNA AND OTHERS 99

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest and most beloved daughters in Christ sweet Jesus :
I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
and your mother in Christ, write to you and comfort you in
the Precious Blood of the Son of God, who was a gentle
Lamb, spotless and slain not by power of nails or lance, but
by power of love and measureless charity which He felt and
still feels to His creatures. Oh, charity unspeakable of our
God ! Thou hast taught me, Love most sweet, and hast
shown me, not by words alone — for Thou sayest that Thou
dost not delight in many words — but by deeds, in which Thou
sayest that Thou dost delight, and which Thou dost demand
from Thy servants. And what hast Thou taught me, O Love
Uncreate ? Thou hast taught me that I should bear, patiently
like a lamb, not only harsh words, but even blows harsh and
hard and injury and loss. And with this Thou dost will that
I be innocent and spotless, harmful to no one of my neighbours
and brethren ; not only in case of those who do not persecute
us, but in that of those who injure us ; Thou dost will that
we pray for them as for special friends who give us a good
and great gain. And Thou dost will that we be patient and meek
not only in injuries and temporal losses, but universally, in
everything that may be contrary to my will : as Thou didst
not will Thine own will to be done in anything, but the will
of Thy Father. How then shall we lift up our head against
the goodness of God, wishing that our perverted wills should
be fulfilled ? How shall we not will that the will of God be
fulfilled ?

O Jesus, Most Sweet Love, make Thy will to be fulfilled in
us ever, as in Heaven by Thy Angels and saints ! Dearest
my daughter in Christ, this is the meekness which our sweet
Saviour wants to find in us : that we, with hearts wholly

ioo LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

peaceful and tranquil, be content with everything which He
plans and does concerning us, and wish neither times nor
seasons in our own way, but in His alone. Then the soul, so
divested of its every wish and clothed with the will of God,
is very pleasing to God. Like an unbridled horse, it runs most
swiftly from grace to grace, from virtue to virtue ; for it has
no bridle that holds or prevents it from running, since it has
severed from itself every inordinate appetite and impulse of
its own self-will, which are bands and bridles that do not allow
the souls of spiritual men to run.

The affairs of the Crusade are going constantly better and
better, and the honour of God is increasing every day.
Increase constantly in virtue, and furnish the ship of your
soul, for our time draws near. Comfort and bless Francesca,
from Jesus Christ and me ; and tell her to be zealous that I
may find her increased in virtue when I shall return. Bless
and comfort all my sons in Christ. Now this very day the
ambassador of the Queen of Cyprus came and talked to me.
He is going to the Holy Father, Christ on earth, to urge him
concerning the affairs of the holy Crusade. And, moreover,
the Holy Father has sent to Genoa to urge them concerning
the same thing.

Our sweet Saviour give you His eternal benediction !
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love.

TO MESSER JOHN

THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE

AND HEAD OF THE COMPANY

THAT CAME IN THE TIME OF FAMINE

Which letter is one of credentials, certifying that he may put faith in all
things said to him by Fra Raimondo of Capua. Wherefore the said
Fra Raimondo went to the said Messer John, and the other captains,
to induce them to go over and fight against the infidels should it happen
that others should go. And before leaving he had from them and from
Messer John a promise on the sacrament that they would go, and they
signed it with their hands and sealed it with their seals.

So runs the old heading to this letter. It is piquant to
contemplate Catherine writing to that picturesque gentleman,
Sir John Hawkwood. Her attitude of friendly and almost
sisterly sympathy with the audacious free-lance appears in her
unwonted addition of the word " glory" to her usual formula,
" The honour of God and the salvation of souls," in the last
sentence. We are told that the letter and Fra Raimondo
produced a real impression, and that Hawkwood not only
vowed himself to the Crusade, but that, no Crusade occurring,
he from this time bore arms only in regular warfare. He who
follows the Englishman's subsequent career may perhaps
wonder a little what "regular warfare" meant to his mind.
Yet let us remember to his credit that Hawkwood protested
against the massacre of Cesena — nor was this the only
occasion on which his nature flashed for a moment a chivalrous
light. May his bones rest in peace in the Duomo of Florence,
that city to the gates of which he brought terror and dismay,
but which bore him no grudge, and at the end decreed him
splendid funerals, and sepulchre among her honoured sons !

IOI

102 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

To you, most beloved and dear brothers in Christ Jesus :
I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write in His precious Blood : with desire to see you a true
son and knight of Christ, in such wise that you may desire
to give your life a thousand times, if need were, in service
' of sweet and good Jesus. This is a gift which would pay off
all our sins, which we have committed against our Saviour.
Dearest and sweetest brother in Christ Jesus, it would be
a great thing now if you would withdraw a little into your-
self, and consider, and reflect how great are the pains and
anguish which you have endured by being in the service
and pay of the devil. Now my soul desires that you should
change your way of life, and take the pay and the cross
of Christ crucified, you and all your followers and companions;
so that you may be Christ's company, to march against the
infidel dogs who possess our Holy Place, where rested the
Sweet Primal Truth and bore death and pains for us. I beg
you, then, gently in Christ Jesus, that since God and also our
Holy Father have ordered a crusade against the infidels,
and you take such pleasure in war and fighting, you should
not make war against Christians any more — for this is a wrong
to God j but go against the infidels ! For it is a great
cruelty that we who are Christians, and members bound
in the Body of Holy Church, should persecute one another.
We are not to do so ; but to rise with perfect zeal, and
to uplift ourselves above every evil thought.

I marvel much that you, having, as I heard, promised to
be willing to go to die for Christ in this holy crusade, are
wanting to make war in these parts. This is not that holy
disposition which God demands from you if you are to go
to so holy and venerable a place. It seems to me that you

TO MESSER JOHN 103

ought now, at this present time, to dispose you to virtue, until
the time shall come for us and the others who shall be ready
to give their lives for Christ : and thus you shall show that
you are a manly and true knight.

There is coming to you this father and son of mine, Brother
Raimondo, who brings you this letter. Trust in what he tells
you ; because he is a true, faithful servant of God, and will
advise you and say to you nothing except what will be to the
honour of God and the safety and glory of your soul. I say no
more. I beg you, dearest brother, to keep in memory the
shortness of your time. Remain in the holy and sweet grace
of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO MONNA COLOMBA IN LUCCA

Let us hope that the frivolous Monna Colomba listened to
Catherine's gentle but very explicit exhortations and turned
away from her levities. If she had a sense of humour — and it
is a not uncommon possession of light-minded elderly widows — -
she must have been lovingly entertained at the pale virgin's
identification of herself with those who " walk in the way
of luxuries and pleasures/' and " set themselves up as an
example of sin and vanity." But Catherine's use of the first
person in this connection, strained though it may appear, is
more than a figure of speech, to soften the severity of her
rebuke. We learn from the legend that till the end of her
life she never ceased to repent, bitterly and with tears, for
having at the age of twelve allowed an older sister to dress
her prettily, and blanch her hair after the fashion of the day.
The reason for this terrible lapse, as she told her confessor,
was simply a delight in beautiful things — but she always
looked back on it with horror.

The application of the finding of Christ in the Temple, in
this letter, is curious, but not devoid of grace.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

To you, dearest sister and daughter in Christ sweet Jesus :
I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write in His precious Blood, with desire that I might see you
a fruitful field, receiving the seed of the Word of God, and
bringing forth fruit for yourself and others. I want to see
you, who are now getting to be an old woman, and who are

104

TO MONNA COLOMBA IN LUCCA 105

free from worldly ties, a mirror of virtue to younger women,
who are still bound to the world by the tie of their husbands.

Alas, alas, I perceive that we are unfruitful ground, for we
are letting the Word of God be smothered by the inordinate
affections and desires of the world, and are walking in the
way of its luxuries and pleasures, studying to please our
fellow-beings rather than our Creator. And there is a more
wretched thing yet, for our own evil-doing is not enough for
us ; where we ought to be an example of virtue and modesty,
we set ourselves up as an example of sin and vanity. And as
the devil was not willing to fall alone, but wanted a large
company with him, so we are enticing other people to those
same vanities and amusements that we indulge in ourselves.
You ought to withdraw, by love of virtue and your
salvation, from vain diversions and worldly weddings — for
they do not suit your condition — and try to keep others away,
who would like to be there. But you talk bad talk, and
entice young women, who are wanting to withdraw from
going to these things through love of virtue, because they
see that it is wronging God. I do not wonder, then, if no
fruit appears, since the seed is smothered as I said.

Perhaps you would find some excuse in saying, " Still, I
have to condescend to my friends and relatives by doing this,
so that they will not be annoyed and irritated with me." So
fear and perverted self-indulgence sap our life, and often kill
us ; rob us of the perfection to which God chose and calls us.
This excuse is not acceptable to God ; for we ought not to
condescend to people in a matter which wrongs God and our
own soul ; nor to love or serve them, except in those matters
which come from God and befit our condition.

Oh me, miserable ! Was it our relatives or friends or any
fellow-being who bought us ? No ; Christ crucified alone
was the Lamb who with love unsearchable sacrificed His
Body, making Him our Purification and Healing, our Food

106 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

and Raiment, and the Bed where we can rest. He had no
regard to love of self nor fleshly joy, but abased Himself in
pain, enduring shames and insults, seeking the honour of the
Father and our salvation. It ill befits that we poor miserable
men should hold by another way than that held by the Sweet
Primal Truth.

You know that God is not found in luxuries and pleasures.
We perceive that when Our Saviour was lost in the Temple,
going to the Feast, Mary could not find Him among friends or
relatives, but found Him in the Temple disputing with the
doctors. And this He did to give us an example — for He is
our Rule, and the Way we should follow. Notice that it
says that He was lost when going to the Feast. Know, most
beloved sister, that, as was said, God is not found at feasts or
balls or games or weddings or places of recreation. Nay,
going there is a very sure means of losing Him, and falling
into many sins and faults, and inordinate frivolous self-indul-
gence. Since this is the reason that has made us lose God by
grace, is there any way to find Him again ? Yes ; to accom-
pany Mary. Let us seek Him with her, in bitterness and pain
and distaste for the fault committed against our Creator, to
condescend to the will of men. It befits us then to go to the
Temple, and there He is found. Let our hearts, our minds,
and desires be lifted up with this Company of Bitterness, and
let us go to the Temple of our soul, and there we shall know
ourselves. Then the soul, recognizing itself not to be, will
recognize the goodness of God towards it, who is He who
is. Then the will shall be uplifted with zeal, and shall love
what God loves and hate what God hates. Then, as it enters
into reason with itself, it will rebuke the memory which has
held in itself the gaieties and pleasures of the world, and has
nor held nor retained the favours and gifts and great benefits
of God, who has given Himself to us with so great fire of
love. It will rebuke the mind, which has given itself to

TO MONNA COLOMBA IN LUCCA 107

understand the will of fellow-creatures, and the shows and
observances of the world, rather than the will of its Creator,
and therefore will and fleshly love have turned them to love
and desire those gross things of sense, which pass like the
wind. The soul should not do thus, but should note and
know the will of God, which seeks and wants naught but our
sanctification, and has therefore given us life.

God has not set you free from the world, for you are
smothered and drowned in the world by your affections and
inordinate desires. Now, have you more than one soul ? No.
If you had two, you might give one to God and the other to
the world. Nor have you more than one body, and this gets
tired over every little thing.

Be a dispenser to the poor of your temporal substance.
Submit you to the yoke of holy and true obedience. Kill,
kill your own will, that it may not be so tied to your rela-
tives, and mortify your body, and do not so pamper it in
delicate ways. Despise yourself, and have in regard neither
rank nor riches, for virtue is the only thing that makes us
gentlefolk, and the riches of this life are the worst of poverty
when possessed with inordinate love apart from God. Recall
to memory what the glorious Jerome said about this, which
one can never repeat often enough, forbidding that widows
should abound in daintiness, or keep their face anointed, or
their garments choice or delicate. Nor should their conversa-
tion be with vain or dissolute young women, but in the cell :
they should do like the turtle-dove, who, when her companion
has died, mourns for ever, and keeps to herself, and wants no
other company. Limit your intercourse, dearest and most
beloved Sister, to Christ crucified ; set your affection and
desire on following Him by the way of shame and true
humility, in gentleness, binding you to the Lamb with the
bands of charity.

This my soul desires, that you may be a true daughter, and

108 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

a bride consecrated to Christ, and a fruitful field, not sterile,
but full of the sweet fruits of true virtues. Hasten, hasten,
for time is short and the road is long. And if you gave all
you have in the world, time would not pause for you from
running its course. I say no more. Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Pardon me if I have said too many
words, for the love and zeal that I have for your salvation
have made me say them. Know that I would far rather do
something for you than merely talk. May God fill you with
His most sweet Favour. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA
OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS

The following is one of the famous letters of the world.
The record in art and literature of the scene which it depicts
has carried knowledge of Catherine to many who otherwise
would have but the vaguest idea of her personality. The
letter has been frequently translated, but most of the trans-
lators have avoided the opening and closing paragraphs, with
their amazing, confused, and to our modern taste almost
shocking metaphors. Surely, however, we want the whole
just as Catherine poured it out ; full of intense excitement,
her emotions clearer than her ideas, lifted into a region where
taste and logic have ho meaning, and using, to convey the in-
expressible feelings quickened by the events she describes,
homeliest figures of speech, such as her commercial surround-
ings naturally suggest to her. For the matter of that, modern
congregations sing with no distress :

"Jesus let me still abide
la Thy Heart and Wounded Side."

The reiteration of the figure of the Blood is here psychologi-
cally inevitable. Catherine writes still quivering from close
contact with the victim of a mediaeval execution.

A young gentleman from Perugia, Niccolo Tuldo by name,
had been condemned to death for speaking critically of the
Sienese Government. It does not appear that he was a serious
political conspirator, but simply a young man whose aristo-
cratic sympathies led him thoughtlessly to the use of haughty
or bitter speech. But a parvenu Government is always sensi-
tive. We hear of a man at this time being condemne4 and

109

no LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

executed because he had not invited one of the Riformatori to
a feast !

Death was lightly inflicted in those days : probably it was
no more lightly suffered than in our own. We have vivid
accounts of the incredulity with which Niccolo Tuldo received
his sentence — incredulity leading to horror, to rage, to re-
bellion, to black" despair. Then Catherine went to him j her
own words tell the rest. As one reads of the wonderful
effect of her soothing presence, as one sees the terrified youth
becoming quiet and subdued, clinging wistfully to the spiritual
strength of this frail woman, and catching at the end not only
her spirit of calm submission, but even something of her exalta-
tion, one is irresistibly reminded of another scene— George
Eliot's marvellous description in "Adam Bede" of Dinah's
ministry to Hetty in the prison. But this scene is real, that only
imagined ; and here no third person, but the consoler herself,
reveals the meaning of the experience to her own spirit.

In bringing Niccolo Tuldo to so illumined an end that he
recognized the judgment-place as holy, and died in full accord
with the will of God, Catherine achieved a great marvel
which only Christianity can compass : she lifted one of those
seemingly purposeless and cruel accidents of destiny which
stagger faith, into unity with the organic work of the world's
redemption.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Most beloved and dearest father and dear my son in Christ
Jesus : I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus
Christ, write to you, commending myself to you in the precious
Blood of the Son of God ; with desire to see you inflamed
and drowned in that His sweetest Blood, which is blended
with the fire of His most ardent charity. This my soul
desires, to see you therein, you and Nanni and Jacopo my

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA m

son. I see no other remedy by which we may reach those
chief virtues which are necessary to us. Sweetest father,
your soul, which has made itself food for me — (and no moment
of time passes that I do not receive this food at the table of
the sweet Lamb slain with such ardent love) — your soul, I say,
would not attain the little virtue, true humility, were it not
drowned in the Blood. This virtue shall be born from hate,
and hate from love. Thus the soul is born with very perfect
purity, as iron issues purified from the furnace.

I will, then, that you lock you in the open side of the Son
of God, which is an open treasure-house, full of fragrance,
even so that sin itself there becomes fragrant. There rests
the sweet Bride on the bed of fire and blood. There is seen
and shown the secret of the heart of the Son of God. Oh,
flowing Source, which givest to drink and excitest every loving
desire, and givest gladness, and enlightenest every mind and
fillest every memory which fixes itself thereon ! so that naught
else can be held or meant or loved, save this sweet and good
Jesus ! Blood and fire, immeasurable Love ! Since my soul
shall be blessed in seeing you thus drowned, I will that you
do as he who draws up water with a bucket, and pours it over
something else ; thus do you pour the water of holy desire on
the head of your brothers, who are our members, bound to us
in the body of the sweet Bride. And beware, lest through
illusion of the devils — who I know have given you trouble,
and will give you — or through the saying of some fellow-
creature, you should ever draw back : but persevere always
in the hour when things look most cold, until we may see
blood shed with sweet and enamoured desires.

Up, up, sweetest my father ! and let us sleep no more !
For I hear such news that I wish no more bed of repose or
worldly state. I have just received a Head in my hands,
which was to me of such sweetness as heart cannot think, nor
tongue say, nor eye see, nor the ears hear. The will of God

ii2 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

went on through the other mysteries wrought before ; of
which I do not tell, for it would be too long. I went to visit
him whom you know : whence he received such comfort and
consolation that he confessed, and prepared himself very well.
And he made me promise by the love of God that when the
time of the sentence should come, I would be with him. So
I promised, and did. Then in the morning, before the bell rang,
I went to him : and he received great consolation. I led him
to hear Mass, and he received the Holy Communion, which he
had never before received. His will was accorded and sub-
mitted to the will of God ; and only one fear was left, that of
not being strong at the moment. But the measureless and
glowing goodness of God deceived him, creating in him such
affection and love in the desire of God that he did not know
how to abide without Him, and said : " Stay with me, and do
not abandon me. So it shall not be otherwise than well with
me. And I die content." And he held his head upon my
breast. I heard then the rejoicing, and breathed the fragrance
of his blood ; and it was not without the fragrance of mine,
which I desire to shed for the sweet Bridegroom Jesus. And,
desire waxing in my soul, feeling his fear, I said : " Comfort
thee, sweet my brother j since we shall soon arrive at the
Wedding Feast. Thou shalt go there bathed in the sweet
Blood of the Son of God, with the sweet Name of Jesus,
which I will never to leave thy memory. And I await thee at
the place of justice." Now think, father and son, his heart then
lost all fear, and his face changed from sorrow to gladness; and
he rejoiced, he exulted, and said : "Whence comes such grace to
me, that the sweetness of my soul will await me at the holy place
of justice?" See, that he had come to so much light that he called
the place of justice holy ! And he said : " I shall go wholly joy-
ous, and strong, and it will seem to me a thousand years before
I arrive, thinking that you are awaiting me there." And he said
words so sweet as to break one's heart, of the goodness of God.

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 113

I waited for him then at the place of justice ; and waited
there with constant prayer, in the presence of Mary and of
Catherine, Virgin and martyr. But before I attained, I pro-
strated me, and stretched my neck upon the block ; but my
desire did not come there, for I had too full consciousness of
myself. Then up ! I prayed, I constrained her, I cried
" Mary ! " for I wished this grace, that at the moment of
death she should give him a light and a peace in his heart, and
then I should see him reach his goal. Then my soul became
so full that although a multitude of people were there, I could
see no human creature, for the sweet promise made to me.

Then he came, like a gentle lamb ; and seeing me, he began
to smile, and wanted me to make the sign of the Cross.
"When he had received the sign, I said : " Down ! To the
Bridal, sweetest my brother ! For soon shalt thou be in the
enduring life." He prostrated him with great gentleness, and
I stretched out his neck ; and bowed me down, and recalled to
him the Blood of the Lamb. His lips said naught save Jesus !
and, Catherine ! And so saying, I received his head in my
hands, closing my eyes in the Divine Goodness, and saying,
" I will ! "

Then was seen God-and-Man, as might the clearness of
the sun be seen. And He stood wounded, and received the
blood ; in that blood a fire of holy desire, given and hidden
in the soul by grace. He received it in the fire of His divine
charity. When He had received his blood and his desire, He
also received his soul, which He put into the open treasure-
house of His Side, full of mercy ; the primal Truth showing
that by grace and mercy alone He received it, and not for any
other work. Oh, how sweet and unspeakable it was to see the
goodness of God ! with what sweetness and love He awaited
that soul departed from the body ! He turned the eye of
mercy toward her, when she came to enter within His Side,
bathed in blood which availed through the Blood of the Son

ii4 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

of God. Thus received by God through power — powerful
is He to do ! the Son also, Wisdom the Word Incarnate, gave
him and made him share the crucified love with which He
received painful and shameful death through the obedience
which he showed to the Father, for the good of the human
race. And the hands of the Holy Spirit locked him within.

But he made a gesture sweet enough to draw a thousand
hearts. And I do not wonder, for already he tasted the
divine sweetness. He turned as does the Bride when she
has reached the threshold of her bridegroom, who turns back
her head and her look, bowing to those who have accompanied
her, and with the gesture she gives signs of thanks.

When he was at rest, my soul rested in peace and in quiet,
in so great fragrance of blood that I could not bear to remove
the blood which had fallen on me from him.

Ah me, miserable ! I will say no more. I stayed on the
earth with the greatest envy. And it seems to me that the
first new stone is already in place. Therefore do not wonder
if I impose upon you nothing save to see yourselves drowned
in the blood and flame poured from the side of the Son of
God. Now then, no more negligence, sweetest my sons,
since the blood is beginning to flow, and to receive the life.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO GREGORY XI

This is the first letter to Gregory which has come down to
us ; it may or may not have been the first which Catherine
wrote him. That she had had relations with him earlier seems
fairly certain. As early as 1 3 72 we find her writing to
Gerard du Puy, a relative of the Pope and Papal Legate in
Tuscany. This letter is evidently a reply, and contains
passages which she apparently expected du Puy to share with
Gregory. Perhaps Gregory had made approaches to her
through his cousin. There was nothing unlikely at that time
in such action on the part of a great churchman, who, man of
the world though he was, retained a sincere reverence for
humble men and women.

Be this as it may, Catherine in her letter to Gerard du Puy
writes concerning the condition of the Church in the strain of
indignant sorrow which she was to hold till her death : "In
reply to the first of the three things you ask me, I will say that
I believe that our sweet Christ on earth should do away
entirely with two things which ravage the Bride of Christ.
The first is the over-great tenderness and care for relatives,
which ought to be entirely mortified. The other is that over-
great good nature which is founded on too great mercy. . . .
Christ holds three vices as especially evil — impurity, avarice,
and swollen pride, which reign in the Bride of Christ among
the prelates, who care for nothing but luxuries and honours and
vast riches. A strong justice is needed to correct them, for
too great pity is the greatest cruelty. As to the other
question, I say : When I told you that you should toil for Holy
Church, I was not thinking only of the labours you should

n6 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

assume about temporal things, but chiefly that you and the
Holy Father ought to toil and do what you can to get rid of
the wolfish shepherds who care for nothing but eating and fine
palaces and big horses. Oh me, that which Christ won upon
the wood of the Cross is spent with harlots ! I beg that if
you were to die for it, you tell the Holy Father to put an end
to such iniquities. And when the time comes to make priests
or cardinals, let them not be chosen through flatteries or
moneys or simony ; but beg him, as far as you can, that he
notice well if virtue and a good and holy fame are found in
the man ; and let him not prefer a gentleman to a tradesman,
for virtue is the thing that makes a man gentle." Savonarola
could hardly say more.

This present letter must date from I375> ^or tne rebellion
of the Tuscan cities was gathering when she wrote. It is
evident that Catherine at the time had never met the Pope
personally. She must, however, have gained from hearsay
a fairly just idea of his character ; in the letter — one of
the most carefully composed which we have from her —
we see her approaching him with frankness, dignity, and
courage, and also with a rare degree of tact. It was one
thing to speak her mind out through Gerard du Puy : it must
have been another to speak directly to the Head of Christen-
dom. How Catherine acquits herself the reader may judge.
The hint that the " sweet Christ on earth," the father of the
faithful, lacks self-knowledge, is made so delicately that offence
could not be taken ; yet as she proceeds the indirect sugges-
tion becomes unmistakable. Gregory is that weak prelate in
whom through self-indulgence holy justice is dead or dying ;
the smooth, peaceable man, who to avoid incurring displeasure,
shuts his eyes to the corruption of the Church and the sins of
her priests ; he is the indolent physician who anoints when he
should cauterize. As soon as she deems his mind prepared,
comes the direct statement : " I hope by the goodness of

TO GREGORY XI 117

God, venerable father mine, that you will quench this [self-
love] in yourself, and will not love yourself for your own
sake, nor your neighbour, nor God." Nor does she shrink
from more specific mention of the dangers which beset him,
in his devotion to the interests of " friends and parents," and
considerations of temporal policy.

It is with relief, here as ever, that Catherine passes from
criticism implied or explicit to a strain of high enthusiasm by
which she tries to rouse the soul to all of latent manhood it
may possess. She heartens Gregory with stirring appeal to
the memories of his great predecessors — yet more with
impassioned reminder of that mystery of divine love and
sacrifice from which their strength was drawn. All that
was possible to them is possible to him, " for the same God
is now that was then." " And if up to this time we have
not stood very firm," she says — associating herself, as usual,
with the weakness she would condemn — " I wish and pray in
truth that you deal manfully with the moment of time which
remains, following Christ, whose vicar you are." Gentle
encouragement, and a curious tone of almost maternal tender-
ness, pervade the rest of the letter. In dealing with the
political situation which Gregory confronted, Catherine speaks
without reserve. The suggestions concerning practical matters
with which the letter closes are lucid and to the point. Al-
together, it is a masterly document which the daughter of
Jacopo Benincasa despatches to the Head of Christendom.
Reading it, one finds no difficulty in understanding the in-
fluence which, as the sequel shows, she established over the
sensitive and religious if weak spirit of Gregory XI.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary.

To you, most reverend and beloved father in Christ Jesus,
your unworthy, poor, miserable daughter Catherine, servant and

n8 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, writes in His precious
Blood ; with desire to see you a fruitful tree, full of sweet and
mellow fruits, and planted in fruitful earth — for if it were out
of the earth the tree would dry up and bear no fruit — that is,
in. the earth of true knowledge of yourself. For the soul
that knows itself humbles itself, because it sees nothing to be
proud of; and ripens the sweet fruit of very ardent charity,
recognizing in itself the unmeasured goodness of God ; and
aware that it is not, it attributes all its being to Him who Is.
Whence, then, it seems that the soul is constrained to love what
God loves and to hate what He hates.

Oh, sweet and true knowledge, which dost carry with thee
the knife of hate, and dost stretch out the hand of holy desire,
to draw forth and kill with this hate the worm of self-love —
a worm that spoils and gnaws the root of our tree so that it
cannot bear any fruit of life, but dries up, and its verdure lasts
not ! For if a man loves himself, perverse pride, head and
source of every ill, lives in him, whatever his rank may be,
prelate or subject. If he is lover of himself alone — that is, if
he loves himself for his own sake and not for God— he can-
not do other than ill, and all virtue is dead in him. Such a
one is like a woman who brings forth her sons dead. And so
it really is ; for he has not had the life of charity in himself,
and has cared only for praise and self-glory, and not for the
name of God. I say, then : if he is a prelate, he does ill,
because to avoid falling into disfavour with his fellow-creatures
— that is, through self-love— in which he is bound by self-
indulgence — holy justice dies in him. For he sees his sub-
jects commit faults and sins, and pretends not to see them
and fails to correct them ; or if he does correct them, he does
it with such coldness and lukewarmness that he does not
accomplish anything, but plasters vice over ; and he is always
afraid of giving displeasure or of getting into a quarrel. AU
this is because he loves himself. Sometimes men like this

TO GREGORY XI 119

want to get along with purely peaceful means. I say that
this is the very worst cruelty which can be shown. If a
wound when necessary is not cauterized or cut out with steel,
but simply covered with ointment, not only does it fail to heal,
but it infects everything, and many a time death follows
from it.

Oh me, oh me, sweetest " Babbo " mine ! This is the
reason that all the subjects are corrupted by impurity and
iniquity. Oh me, weeping I say it ! How dangerous is that
worm we spoke of ! For not only does it give death to the
shepherd, but all the rest fall into sickness and death through
it. Why does that shepherd go on using so much ointment ?
Because he does not suffer in consequence ! For no dis-
pleasure visits one and no ill will, from spreading ointment
over the sick j since one does nothing contrary to their will ;
they wanted ointment, and so ointment is given them. Oh,
human wretchedness ! Blind is the sick man who does not
know his own need, and blind the shepherd-physician, who
has regard to nothing but pleasing, and his own advantage \
— since, not to forfeit it, he refrains from using the knife
of justice or the fire of ardent charity ! But such men do,
as Christ says : for if one blind man guide the other, both fall
into the ditch. Sick man and physician fall into hell. Such
a man is a right hireling shepherd, for, far from dragging
his sheep from the hands of the wolf, he devours them
himself. The cause of all this is, that he loves himself apart
from God : so he does not follow sweet Jesus, the true
Shepherd, who has given His life for His sheep. Truly, then,
this perverse love is perilous for one's self and for others, and
truly to be shunned, since it works too much harm to every
generation of people. I hope by the goodness of God, vener-
able father mine, that you will quench this in yourself,
and will not love yourself for yourself, nor your neighbour
for yourself, nor God; but will love Him because He is

120 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

highest and eternal Goodness, and worthy of being loved ;
and yourself and your neighbour you will love to the honour
and glory of the sweet Name of Jesus. I will, then, that you
be so true and good a shepherd that if you had a hundred
thousand lives you would be ready to give them all for
the honour of God and the salvation of His creatures. O
"Babbo" mine, sweet Christ on earth, follow that sweet
Gregory (the Great) ! For all will be possible to you as
to him ; for he was not of other flesh than you ; and that
God is now who was then : we lack nothing save virtue, and
' hunger for the salvation of souls. But there is a remedy
for this, father : that we flee the love spoken of above,
for ourselves and every creature apart from God. Let no
more note be given to friends or parents or one's temporal
needs, but only to virtue and the exaltation of things spiritual.
For temporal things are failing you from no other cause than
from your neglect of the spiritual.

Now, then, do we wish to have that glorious hunger
which these holy and true shepherds of the past have felt,
and to quench in ourselves that fire of self-love ? Let us
do as they, who with fire quenched fire ; for so great was
the fire of inestimable and ardent charity that burned in their
hearts and souls, that they were an-hungered and famished for
the savour of souls. Oh, sweet and glorious fire, which is
of such power that it quenches fire, and every inordinate
delight and pleasure and all love of self \ and this love is like
a drop of water, which is swiftly consumed in the furnace !
Should one ask me how men attained that sweet fire and
hunger — inasmuch as we are surely in ourselves unfruitful
trees — I say that those men grafted themselves into the fruit-
ful tree of the most holy and sweet Cross, where they found
the Lamb, slain with such fire of love for our salvation as
seems insatiable. Still He cries that He is athirst, as if saying :
"I have greater ardour and desire and thirst for your salvation

TO GREGORY XI 121

than I show you with My finished Passion." O sweet and
good Jesus ! Let pontiffs shame them, and shepherds, and
every other creature, for our ignorance and pride and self-
indulgence, in the presence of so great largess and goodness
and ineifable love on the part of our Creator ! He has
revealed Himself to us in our humanity, a Tree full of sweet
and mellow fruits, in order that we, wild trees, might graft
ourselves in Him. Now in this wise wrought that enamoured
Gregory, and those other good shepherds : knowing that they
had no virtue in themselves, and gazing upon the Word, our
Tree, they grafted themselves in Him, bound and chained
by the bands of love. For in that which the eye sees does
it delight, when the thing is fair and good. They saw, then,
and seeing they so bound them that they saw not themselves,
but saw and tasted everything in God. And there was
neither wind nor hail nor demons nor creatures that could
keep them from bearing cultivated fruits : since they were
grafted in the substance of our Tree, Jesus. They brought
forth their fruits, then, from the substance of sweet charity,
in which they were united. And there is no other way.

This is what I wish to see in you. And if up to this time,
we have not stood very firm, I wish and pray in truth that
the moment of time which remains be dealt with manfully,
following Christ, whose vicar you are, like a strong man.
And fear not, father, for anything that may result from
those tempestuous winds that are now beating against you,
those decaying members which have rebelled against you.
Fear not ; for divine aid is near. Have a care for spiritual
things alone, for good shepherds, good rulers, in your cities —
since on account of bad shepherds and rulers you have
encountered rebellion. Give us, then, a remedy ; and comfort
you in Christ Jesus, and fear not. Press on, and fulfil with
true zeal and holy what you have begun with a holy resolve,
concerning your return, and the holy and sweet crusade. And

122 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

delay no longer, for many difficulties have occurred through
delay, and the devil has risen up to prevent these things being
done, because he perceives his own loss. Up, then, father,
and no more negligence ! Raise the gonfalon of the most
holy Cross, for with the fragrance of the Cross you shall win
peace. I beg you to summon those who have rebelled against
you to a holy peace, so that all warfare may be turned against
the infidels. I hope by the infinite goodness of God that
He will swiftly send His aid. Comfort you, comfort you, and
come, come, to console the poor, the servants of God, your
sons ! We await you with eager and loving desire. Pardon
me, father, that I have said so many words to you. You
know that through the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh. I am certain that if you shall be the kind of tree
I wish to see you, nothing will hinder you.

I beg you to send to Lucca and to Pisa with fatherly
proposals, as God shall instruct you, supporting them so
far as can be, and summoning them to remain firm and per-
severing. I have been at Pisa and at Lucca, up to now,
influencing them as much as I can not to make a league with
the decaying members that are rebelling against you : but
they are in great perplexity, because they have no comfort
from you, and are constantly urged to make it and threatened
from the contrary side. However, up to the present time,
they have not wholly consented. I beg you also to write
emphatically to Messer Piero : and do it zealously, and do
not delay. I say no more.

I have heard here that you have appointed the cardinals.
I believe that it would honour God and profit us more if
you would take heed always to appoint virtuous men. If the
contrary is done, it will be a great insult to God, and disaster
to Holy Church. Let us not wonder later if God sends us
His disciplines and scourges •, for the thing is just. I beg you
to do what you have to do manfully and in the fear of God,

TO GREGORY XI 123

I have heard that you are to promote the Master of our
Order to another benefice. Therefore I beg you, by the love
of Christ crucified, that if this is so you will take pains to give
us a good and virtuous Vicar. The Order has need of it, for
it has run altogether too wild. You can talk of this with
Messer Niccola da Osimo and the Archbishop of Tronto ; and
I will write them about it.

Remain in the sweet and holy grace of God. I ask you
humbly for your blessing. Pardon my presumption, that I
presume to write to you. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO GREGORY XI

There is less formality here than in the first letter to
Gregory. Catherine in writing to the Pope soon felt herself
as much at home as a child in her earthly father's house.
The little pet name, " Babbo," which she habitually uses to
him, could be translated only by " Daddy " — which would
sound so strange in English ears that it seems best to let the
Italian stand. There is something touching as well as enter-
taining in the spirit of childlike freedom to which such a term
bears witness.

The Anti-Papal League has become a grim reality. The
un-Christian pomp and arrogance of ruling prelates, the mean
cruelty of William of Noellet in refusing to allow corn to be
imported from the Papal States in Tuscany in time of famine,
the harshness and lack of tact in the policy of Gregory
toward his unsatisfactory children, were all forces potent to
destroy among the rebels any strong sense of committing a
religious crime in their opposition to the Church. Catherine
stands as mediator between the two parties. Not for a
moment condoning the sin of a rebellion heinous indeed in her
eyes, she yet does not allow the Pope to forget that this chief
cause of the trouble has been the unjust and iniquitous things
which the Florentines have endured from the Legates — men
"whom you know yourself" — so she writes with vigorous
plebeian candour — " whom you know yourself to be incarnate
demons " ! Let God's vicegerent, then, show forth the love
of God, and find in the divine attitude toward rebellious
man an example for his own attitude toward his rebellious
cities. Conciliation is to her mind the only wisdom. There

124

TO GREGORY XI 125

is practical sagacity in her remark in another letter . " On
with benignity, father ! For know that every rational creature
is more easily conquered by love and benignity than by any-
thing else : and especially these Italians of ours in these parts.
I do not see any other ^way in which you can conquer them,
but if you do this you can do anything you like with them."

The beautiful opening meditation on the Love of God as
shown in creation and redemption is then no mere general
exordium, but in close dramatic unity with the sequel of the
letter. The Augustinian theology, however alien to our
modern modes of thought, has, as she puts it, a nobility not
to be ignored. As presented briefly here, and more grandly
by Dante in the seventh canto of the Paradiso, it represents
the supreme effort of the law -reverencing mind of the
Latin Church to formulate the methods of Infinite Love. In
the curious figure of the Tournament, we have a charac-
teristic play of mediaeval fancy. As Langland puts it, a little
differently :

" Then was Faith in a fenestre, and cryed : Ah ! Fili David !
As doth an heraude of armes when adventrous cometh to jousts.
Olde Jewes of Jerusalem for joy they sungen,
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Then I frayned at Faith what all that fare meant,
And who should joust in Jerusalem : * Jesus,' he said,

* And fetch that the fiend claimeth : Piers' fruit the Plowman.'

* Is Piers in this place ? ' quoth I : and he winked at me, —
*This Jesus of His gentrice will joust in Piers' armes,

In his helme and in his habergeon, humana natura,' "
«

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Most holy and most reverend my father in Christ Jesus : I
Catherine your poor unworthy daughter, servant and slave of
the servants of Christ, write to you in His precious Blood ;
with desire to see you a good shepherd. For I reflect, sweet

126 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

my " Babbo," that the wolf is carrying away your sheep, and
there is no one found to help them. So I hasten to you, our
father and our shepherd, begging you on behalf of Christ
crucified to learn from Him, who with such fire of love gave
Himself to the shameful death of the most holy Cross, to
rescue that lost sheep, the human race, from the hands of the
demons j because, through man's rebellion against God, they
were holding it for their own possession.

Then comes the Infinite Goodness of God, and sees the
evil state and the loss and the ruin of these sheep, and sees
that they cannot be won back by wrath or war. So, notwith-
standing that it has been wronged by them — since man
deserved an infinite penalty for his disobedient rebellion against
God — Highest and Eternal Wisdom will not do thus ;
but finds an attractive way, the most gentle and loving
possible to find. For it sees that the heart of man is in
no wise so drawn as by love, because he was made by
love. This seems to be the reason why he loves so
much, that he was made by nothing but love, both his soul
and his body. For by love God created him in His Image
and Likeness, and by love his father and mother gave him
substance, conceiving and bearing a son. God, therefore,
seeing that man is so ready to love, throws the book of love
straight at him, giving him the Word His Only-Begotten Son,
who takes our humanity, to make a great peace. But justice
wills that vengeance should be wrought for the wrong that
has been done to God : so comes Divine Mercy and unspeak-
able Charity, and to satisfy justice and mercy condemns His
Son to death, having clothed Him in our humanity — that is,
with the clay of Adam, who sinned. So by His death the
wrath of the Father is pacified, having wrought justice on
the person of His son : so He has satisfied justice and has
satisfied mercy, releasing the human race from the hands
of demons. This sweet Word jousted in His arms upon the

TO GREGORY XI 127

wood of the most holy Cross, death making a tournament
with life, and life with death : so that by His death He
destroyed our death, and to give us life He sacrificed the life
of His body. So then with love He has drawn us, and has
conquered our malice with His benignness, in so much that
every heart should be drawn to Him : since greater love one
cannot show — and this He Himself said — than to give one's
life for one's friend. And if He commends the love which
gives one's life for a friend, what, then, shall we say of that
most burning and complete love which gave its life for its
foe ? For we through sin had been made foes of God. Oh,
sweet and amorous Word, who with love hast found thy
flock once more, and with love hast given Thy life for them,
and hast brought them back into the fold, restoring to them
the Grace which they had lost !

Holiest sweet "Babbo" mine, I see no other way for us,
arid no other help in winning back your sheep, which have
left the fold of Holy Church in rebellion, not obedient nor
subject to you, their father. I pray you therefore, on behalf
of Christ crucified, and I will that you do me this grace, to
overcome their malice with your benignity. Yours we are,
father ! I know and recognize that they all feel that they have
done wrong ; but although they have no excuse for their evil
deeds, nevertheless it seemed to them that they could not do
otherwise on account of the many sufferings and unjust and
iniquitous things that they endured from bad shepherds and
governors. For, breathing the stench of the life of many
rulers whom you know yourself to be incarnate demons, they
fell into the worst of fears, so that they did like Pilate, who,
not to lose the government, killed Christ ; so did they, for
not to lose the state, they persecuted you. I ask you, then,
father, to show them mercy. Do not have regard to the
ignorance and pride of your sons ; but with the food of love
and of your benignity, inflicting such sweet discipline and

128 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

benign reproof as shall please your Holiness, restore peace to
us miserable children who have done wrong. I tell you,
sweet Christ on earth, on behalf of Christ in Heaven, that if
you do thus, without any strife or tempest, they will all come,
grieving for the wrong they have done, and will put their
heads in your bosom. Then you will rejoice, and we shall
rejoice, because by love you have restored the wandering
sheep to the fold of Holy Church. And then, sweet my
" Babbo," you will fulfil your holy desire and the will of God,
by making the holy Crusade, which I summon you in His
Name to do swiftly and without negligence. They will turn
to it with great eagerness ; they are ready to give their life
for Christ. Ah me, God, sweet Love ! Raise swiftly,
" Babbo," the gonfalon of the most holy Cross, and you will
see the wolves become lambs. Peace, peace, peace, that war
may not delay this happy time ! But if you will wreak ven-
geance and justice, take them upon me, poor wretch, and give
me any pain and torment that may please you, even to death.
I believe that through the stench of my iniquities many evils
have happened, and many misfortunes and discords. On me,
then, your poor daughter, take any vengeance that you will.
Ah me, father, I die of grief and cannot die ! Come, come,
and resist no more the will of God that calls you ; and the
hungry sheep await your coming to hold and possess the place
of your predecessor and champion, Apostle Peter. For you,
as the Vicar of Christ, should rest in your own place. Come,
then, come, and delay no more j and comfort you, and fear not
for anything that might happen, since God will be with you.
I ask humbly your benediction, for me and for all my sons ;
and I beg you to pardon my presumption. I say no more.
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love.

TO GREGORY XI

" Ahl, Constantin, di quanto mal fu matre,
Non la tua conversion, ma quella dote
Che da te prese il primo ricco patre !"

" For ever since Holy Church has aimed more at temporal
than at spiritual things, matters have gone from bad to
worse." Catherine's sorrowful denunciations of the sins of
the Church recall the thought of Dante, the thought of
Petrarch — which is also the thought of all the great saints,
seers, and loyal Catholics, to whom through the Christian ages
the shortcoming of their spiritual mother has meant grief
beyond words. The lovely conception of Holy Church as a
garden, borrowed though it be from Holy Writ, she has made
peculiarly her own by constant repetition. We recognize in
it the womanly imagination which, we are told, always found
refreshment in wreathing fragrant flowers and walking abroad
through the fields and woods.

Catherine in this letter presents explicitly her threefold
policy : reform of the Church, return to Rome, the initiation
of a Crusade. In her little letter to Sir John Hawkwood, we
have already seen her devotion to this last cause. A Crusade
in the fourteenth century was not to be. Nevertheless,
Catherine never showed more political wisdom than in this
matter, and it was the one aim of her life in which she wholly
failed. We have in the Legenda Minore a racy account of a
personal interview with Gregory on the subject, in which she
presented cogent considerations to him. She shrewdly sug-
gested that the mercenary troops who ravaged Italy, and were
" the very cause and nourishment of war," would gladly turn
K 129

130 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASa

their arms against the infidel, " For there are few people so
wicked that they are not willing to serve God by indulging
their taste : all men would gladly expiate their sins by doing
what they enjoy." Behind all such considerations of policy,
however, lay, as we clearly see, the intense desire that the
infidels should be saved. And not for their own sake only.
Desperate and desolate as she beheld the worldliness of
Christian folk, and their remoteness from the faith and ardour
of an earlier time, Catherine ventured to dream that new con-
verts, won from the peoples that sat in darkness, might revive
the spiritual life of Christendom by the infusion of spiritual
passion strong in young purity. " Oh, what joy it would be," she
wrote to Gregory, "could we see the Christian people convert
the Infidel ! For when they had once received the Light,
they might reach great perfection, like a young plant which
has escaped the wintry cold of faithlessness, and expands in
the warmth and light of the Holy Spirit ; so they might bear
flowers and fruits of virtue in the mystical body of Holy
Church ; so that the fragrance of their virtue might help us
to drive away the sins and vice, the pride and impurity, which
abound to-day among the Christian people, and above all
among those high in Holy Church."

It was a strange dream, and hopeless ; but it was the dream
of a saint.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Most holy and dear and sweet father in Christ sweet Jesus :
I your unworthy daughter Catherine, servant and slave of
the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious
Blood. With desire have I desired to see in you the fulness
of divine grace, in such wise that you may be the means,
through divine grace, of pacifying all the universal world.
Therefore, I beg you, sweet my father, to use the instrument

TO GREGORY XI 131

of your power and virtue, with zeal, and hungry desire for
the peace and honour of God and the salvation of souls. And
should you say to me, father — " The world is so ravaged !
How shall I attain peace ? " I tell you, on behalf of Christ
crucified, it befits you to achieve three chief things through
your power. Do you uproot in the garden of Holy Church
the malodorous flowers, full of impurity and avarice, swollen
with pride : that is, the bad priests and rulers who poison and
rot that garden. Ah me, you our Governor, do you use your
power to pluck out those flowers ! Throw them away, that
they may have no rule ! Insist that they study to rule them-
selves in holy and good life. Plant in this garden fragrant
flowers, priests and rulers who are true servants of Jesus
Christ, and care for nothing but the honour of God and the
salvation of souls, and are fathers of the poor. Alas, what
confusion is this, to see those who ought to be a mirror of
voluntary poverty, meek as lambs, distributing the possessions'
of Holy Church to the poor : and they appear in such luxury
and state and pomp and worldly vanity, more than if they had
turned them to the world a thousand times ! Nay, many
seculars put them to shame who live a good and holy life.
But it seems that Highest and Eternal Goodness is having that
done by force which is not done by love ; it seems that He is
permitting dignities and luxuries to be taken away from His
Bride, as if He would show that Holy Church should return
to her first condition, poor, humble, and meek as she was in
that holy time when men took note of nothing but the honour
of God and the salvation of souls, caring for spiritual things
and not for temporal. For ever since she has aimed more at
temporal than at spiritual, things have gone from bad to worse.
See therefore that God, in judgment, has allowed much perse-
cution and tribulation to befall her. But comfort you, father,
and fear not for anything that could happen, which God does
to make her state perfect once more, in order that lambs may

132 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

feed in that garden, and not wolves who devour the honour
that should belong to God, which they steal and give to them-
selves. Comfort you in Christ sweet Jesus ; for I hope that His
aid will be near you, plenitude of divine grace, aid and support
divine in the way that I said before. Out of war you will
attain greatest peace ; out of persecution, greatest unity ; not
by human power, but by holy virtue, you will discomfit those
visible demons, wicked men, and those invisible demons who
never sleep around us.

But reflect, sweet father, that you could not do this easily
unless you accomplished the other two things which precede
the completion of the other : that is, your return to Rome and
uplifting of the standard of the most holy Cross. Let not
your holy desire fail on account of any scandal or rebellion of
cities which you might see or hear ; nay, let the flame of holy
desire be more kindled to wish to do swiftly. Do not delay,
then, your coming. Do not believe the devil, who perceives
his own loss, and so exerts himself to rob you of your posses-
sions in order that you may lose your love and charity and
your coming be hindered. I tell you, father in Christ Jesus,
come swiftly like a gentle lamb. Respond to the Holy Spirit
who calls you. I tell you, Come, come, come, and do not wait
for time, since time does not wait for you. Then you will do
like the Lamb Slain whose place you hold, who without weapons
in His hand slew our foes, coming in gentleness, using only
the weapons of the strength of love, aiming only at care of
spiritual things, and restoring grace to man who had lost it
through sin.

Alas, sweet my father, with this sweet hand I pray you, and
tell you to come to discomfit our enemies. On behalf of Christ
crucified I tell it you : refuse to believe the counsels of the
devil, who would hinder your holy and good resolution. Be
manly in my sight, and not timorous. Answer God, who
calls you to hold and possess the seat of the glorious Shepherd

TO GREGORY XI 133

St. Peter, whose vicar you have been. And raise the standard
of the holy Cross ; for as we were freed by the Cross — so
Paul says — thus raising this standard, which seems to me the
refreshment of Christians, we shall be freed — we from our
wars and divisions and many sins, the infidel people from their
infidelity. In this way you will come and attain the reforma-
tion, giving good priests to Holy Church. Fill her heart with
the ardent love that she has lost ; for she has been so drained
of blood by the iniquitous men who have devoured her that
she is wholly wan. But comfort you, and come, father, and
no longer make to wait the servants of God, who afflict them-
selves in desire. And I, poor, miserable woman, can wait no
more ; living, I seem to die in my pain, seeing God thus
reviled. Do not, then, hold off from peace because of the
circumstance which has occurred at Bologna, but come ; for
I tell you that the fierce wolves will put their heads in your
bosom like gentle lambs, and will ask mercy from you, father,
I say no more. I beg you, father, to hear and hark that
which Fra Raimondo will say to you, and the other sons with
him, who come in the Name of Christ crucified and of me ; for
they are true servants of God and sons of Holy Church.
Pardon, father, my ignorance, and may the love and grief
which make me speak excuse me to your benignity. Give me
your benediction. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of
God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA
AT AVIGNON

The last letter tells us that Catherine had sent to the Pope
her beloved Confessor, who was later to become her biographer
— Fra Raimondo of Capua. It is evident that the simple
Italian priest and his companions have become somewhat
daunted by the conditions they have encountered at Avignon ;
and, indeed, the subtlest temptations and most perplexing
problems that Europe could furnish were doubtless focussed
at the Papal Court. Just what the difficulties were which
Raimondo had confided to Catherine and which called forth
this spirited answer, we do not know, but we can easily
imagine their nature. A holy man of considerable learning,
Fra Raimondo was also of mild disposition, much inclined to
sigh over dangers and blench before exposure. Catherine, on
more than one occasion, showed herself the better man of the
two. There was a militant strain in her bright nature ; she
was really the "Happy Warrior" —

"Whose powers shed round him in the common strife
Or mild concerns of ordinary life
A constant influence, a peculiar grace ;
But who if he be called upon to face
Some awful moment to which Heaven has joined
Great issues, good or bad for human kind,
Is happy as a Lover ; and attired
With sudden brightness, like a man inspired ;
And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law
In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw."

*34

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 135

So, in this letter, we find the daughter encouraging the
father, with reflections much in the temper of Browning :

"Was the trial sore,
Temptation sharp ? Thank God a second time !
Why come temptations but for man to meet,
And master, and make crouch beneath his feet,
And so be pedestalled in triumph !"

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Reverend father in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you and the other sons
clothed in the wedding garment that covers all our nakedness,
That is a protection which does not let the blows of our
adversary the devil pierce our flesh with mortal wound, but
makes us rather strengthened than weakened by every blow of
temptation or molesting of devils or fellow-creatures or our
own flesh, rebellious to the spirit. I say that these blows not
only do not hurt us, but they shall be precious stones and
pearls placed on this garment of most burning charity.

Now suppose there should be a soul that did not have to
endure many labours and temptations, from whatever direction
and in whatever wise God may grant them. No virtue would
be tested in it; for virtue is tested by its opposite. How is
purity tested and won ? Through the contrary — that is, through
the vexations of uncleanliness. For were a man unclean
already, there would be no need for him to be molested by
unclean reflections, but because it is evident that his will is
free from all depraved consenting, and purified from every
spot by his holy and true desire to serve his Creator, therefore
the devil, the world, and the flesh molest him. Yes, every-
thing is driven out by its opposite. See how humility is won
through pride. When a man sees himself molested by that

136 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

vice of pride, at once he humbles himself, recognizing him-
self to be faulty — proud : while had he not been so molested
he would not have known himself so well. When he has
humbled and seen himself, he conceives hatred in such wise
that he joys and exults in every pain and injury that he bears.
Such a one is like a manful knight, who does not avoid blows.
Nay, he holds him unworthy of so great grace, as it seems to
him to be, to bear pain, temptations and vexations for Christ
crucified. All is through the hate he has for himself, and the
love he has conceived for virtue.

So you see that we are not to flee nor to grieve in the time
of darkness, since from the darkness light is born. O God,
sweet Love, what sweet doctrine Thou givest, that through
the contrary of virtue, virtue is won ! Out of impatience is
won patience; for the soul that feels the vice of impatience
becomes patient over the injury received, and is impatient
toward the vice of impatience, and is more hurt because it
is hurt than over anything else. And so out of the very
contrary its perfection comes to be won. It is not aware of
this ; it finds itself become perfect in many storms and temp-
tations. In no other wise does one ever arrive at the harbour
of perfection.

Yea, meditate on this : that the soul can never receive nor
desire virtue, unless it has cravings, vexations and temptations
to endure with true and holy patience for the love of Christ
crucified. "We ought, then, to joy and exult in the time of
conflicts, vexations and shadows, since from them proceeds
such virtue and delight. Oh me, my son given me by Mary
that sweet mother, I do not want you to fall into weariness or
confusion through any vexations that you might feel in your
mind ; but I want you to keep that good and holy and true
faithful will which I know that God in His mercy has given
you. I know that you would rather die than offend Him
mortally. Yes, I want that out of the shadows should issue

TO BROTHER RAJMONDO OF CAPUA 137

knowledge of yourself, free from confusion ; out of your
goodwill should issue knowledge of the infinite goodness and
unspeakable charity of God ; and in this knowledge may our
soul abide and fatten. Reflect that through love He keeps
your will good, and does not let it run by its own consent or
pleasure after the suggestions of the devil. And so, through
love, He has permitted to you and me and His other servants,
the many vexations and deceits of the devil and fellow-
creatures and our own flesh, solely in order that we might
rise from negligence, and reach perfect zeal, true humility
and most ardent charity : humility which comes from know-
ledge of self, and charity which comes from knowledge of the
goodness of God. There is the soul inspired and consumed
by love.

Joy, father, and exult ; and comfort you, without any
servile fear, and fear not, for any thing that you should see
happen. But comfort you : for perfection is near you. And
answer the devil saying : " That power against you did not
work through me, since it was not in me °, it works through
' grace of the infinite pity and mercy of God." Yes, through
Christ crucified you shall be able to do all things. Carry on
all your works with living faith ; and do not wonder should
you see some contrary circumstance present itself which
seemed to oppose your work. Comfort you, comfort you,
because the Sweet Primal Truth has promised to fulfil your
and my desire for you. Slay yourself through your burn-
ing desire, with the Lamb that was slain ; rest you upon the
Cross with Christ crucified. Rejoice in Christ crucified ;
rejoice in pains ; steep yourself in shames for Christ cruci-
fied ; graft your heart and your affection into the tree of
the most holy Cross with Christ crucified, and make in His
wounds your habitation. And pardon me, cause and instru-
ment that I am of your every pain and imperfection j for
were I an instrument of virtue, you and others would breathe

138 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

the fragrance of virtue. And I do not say these words because
I want you to suffer, for your suffering would be mine ; but
that you may have compassion, you and the other sons, upon
my miseries. I hope and firmly hold, through the grace of
the Holy Spirit, that He will put limit and end to all those
things that are apart from the will of God.

Reflect that I, poor miserable woman, abide in the body,
and find me through desire continually away from the body.
Oh me, sweet and good Jesus ! I die and cannot die, my
heart breaks and cannot break, from the desire that I have of
the renewal of Holy Church, for the honour of God and the
salvation of every creature ; and to see you and the others
arrayed in purity, burned and consumed in His most ardent
charity !

Tell Christ on earth not to make me wait longer ; and when
I shall see him, I shall sing with Simeon, that sweet old man :
" Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum
tuum, in pace." I say no more ; for did I follow my wish, I
should begin again at once. Make me see and feel you bound
and fastened into Christ sweet Jesus, in such wise that nor
demon nor creature can ever separate you from so sweet a
bond. Love, love, love one another. Remain in the holy
and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO CATARINA OF THE HOSPITAL
AND GIOVANNA DI CAPO

From the comparative quiet of her home Catherine looks off
to far horizons, surveying the religious and political world.
She can encourage Fra Raimondo, yet the sword has pierced
her heart. This letter is full of sickening recognition of evils
that hold grave prevision of worse disaster. Even now we see
clearly formed in Catherine's mind that strange sense of
responsibility for the sins of her time, so illogical to the
natural, so inevitable to the spiritual vision. " I believe that I
am the wretched woman who is the cause of so great evils ! "
Thus she cries, not in rhetorical figure of speech, but in deep
conviction. It is a conviction destined to grow more intense
till it leads direct to her spiritual martyrdom.

Out of her pain she turns to the simple women, her
daughters and companions in faith, calling on them to join her
in the life of intercession and expiation. Then her thought
fastens on one little lamb of the flock — one who had strayed
and been rescued, and was in danger of straying again; and in
care for this one soul needing shelter and strength she finds
comfort. Catherine's sense of proportion is that of the
spiritual man so finely presented by Browning in the person
of Lazarus. Let Andrea be saved, and the corruption of the
Church will seem less painful ! She can say as her last word,
" Sweet daughters, now is the time for toils, which must be
our consolations in Christ crucified."

139

140 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughters in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, v/rite to you
in His precious Blood, with desire to see you established in
true patience and deep humility, so that you may follow the
sweet and Spotless Lamb, for you could not follow Him in
other wise. Now is the time, my daughters, to show if we
have virtue, and if you are daughters or not. It behoves you
to bear with patience the persecutions and detractions, slan-
ders and criticisms of your fellow-creatures, with true
humility, and not with annoyance or impatience ; nor must
you lift up your head in pride against any person whatever.
Know well that this is the teaching which has been given us,
that it behoves us to receive on the Cross the food of the
honour of God and the salvation of souls, with holy and true
patience. Ah me, sweetest daughters, I summon you on
behalf of the Sweet Primal Truth to awaken from the. sleep of
negligence and selfish love of yourselves, and to offer humble
and continual prayers, with many vigils, and with knowledge
of yourselves, because the world is perishing through the
crowding multitude of iniquities, and the irreverence shown
to the sweet Bride of Christ. Well, then, let us give honour
to God, and our toils to our neighbour. Ah, me, do not be
willing, you or the other servants of God, that our life should
end otherwise than in mourning and in sighs, for by no other
means can be appeased the wrath of God, which is evidently
falling upon us.

Ah, me, misfortunate ! My daughters, I believe that I am
the wretched woman who is the cause of so many evils, on
account of the great ingratitude and other faults which I have
committed toward my Creator. Ah, me ! ah, me ! Who is
God, who is wronged by His creatures? He is Highest and

TO CATARINA AND GIOVANNA DI CAPO 141

eternal Goodness, who in His love created man in His image
and likeness, and re-created him by grace, after his sin, in the
Blood of the immaculate and enamoured Lamb, His Only-
Begotten Son. And who is mercenary and ignorant man, who
wrongs his Creator ? We are those who are not ourselves by
ourselves, save in so far as we are made by God, but by our-
selves we are full of every wretchedness. It seems as if
people sought nothing except in what way they could wrong
God and their fellow-creatures, in contempt of the Creator.
"We see with our wretched eyes that Blood which has given us
life persecuted in the holy Church of God. Then let our
hearts break in torment and grieving desire ; let life stay in
our body no more, but let us rather die than behold God so
reviled. I die in life, and demand death from my Creator and
cannot have it. Better were it for me to die than to live,
instead of beholding such disaster as has befallen and is to
befall the Christian people.

Let us draw the weapons of holy prayer, for other help I
see not. That time of persecution has come upon the ser-
vants of God when they must hide in the caves of knowledge
of themselves and of God, craving His mercy through the
merits of the Blood of His Son. I will say no more, for if I
did according to my choice, my daughters, I should never rest
until God removed me from this life.

To thee now I say, Andrea, that he who begins only never
receives the crown of glory, but he who perseveres till death.
O daughter mine, thou hast begun to put thy hand to the
plough of virtue, leaving the parbreak of mortal sin; it behoves
thee, then, to persevere, to receive the reward of thy labour,
which thy soul endures, choosing to bridle its youth, that it
may not run to be a member of the devil. Ah me, my
daughter ! And hast thou not reflection that thou wast once
a member of the devil, sleeping in the filth of impurity, and
that God by His mercy drew thee from that great misery in

142 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

which thou wast, thy soul and thy body ? It does not befit
thee, then, to be ungrateful nor forgetful, for evil would
befall thee, and the devil would come back with seven com-
panions stronger than at first. Then thou shalt show the
grace thou hast received by being grateful and mindful, when
thou shalt be strong in battles with the devil, the world, and
thy flesh, which vexes thee j thou must be persevering in
virtue. Cling, my daughter, if thou wilt escape such vexa-
tions, to the Tree of the most holy Cross, in bodily absti-
nence, in vigil and in prayer, bathing thee by holy desire in
the blood of Christ crucified. So thou shalt attain the life
of grace, and do the will of God, and fulfil my desire, which
longs to have thee a true servant of Christ crucified. I beg
thee therefore not to be a child any longer, and to choose for
Bridegroom Christ crucified, who has bought thee with His
Blood. If thou yet wishest the life of the world, it befits
thee to wait long enough so that the way can be found of
giving it to thee in a way that shall be for the honour of God
and for thy good. Be subject and obedient till death, and do
not contradict the will of Catarina and Giovanna, who I know
will never counsel thee or tell thee anything that is not for the
honour of God and the salvation of thy soul and body. If
thou dost not behave so, thou wilt displease me very much,
and do thyself little good. I hope in the goodness of God
that thou wilt so act that He will be honoured, and thou shalt
have thy reward and give me great consolation.

I tell thee, Catarina and Giovanna, to work till death for
the honour of God and her salvation. Sweet daughters, now
is the time for toils, which must be our consolations in Christ
crucified. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO

CLOTHED WITH THE HABIT OF SAINT DOMINIC

WHO NOT BEING ABLE TO CARRY OUT

HER GREAT PENANCES HAD FALLEN

INTO DEEP AFFLICTION

Catherine's beloved sister Daniella is in trouble. As
happened to many others leading the dedicated life in the
middle ages, she has carried her scorn of the body past all
bounds of reason, has fallen ill and been obliged to care for
her poor physical nature. Catherine, who is perpetually
trying to raise Fra Raimondo and others in her spiritual
family to more heroic heights, recognizes the different needs of
this over-eager soul. She writes her friend, therefore, a long
and tender letter, one of the most elaborate among her many
analyses of the means that lead to perfection, urging upon
her discretion and a sense of proportion in spiritual things.
It is noteworthy that Catherine's exhortations to impassioned
sacrifice are almost always delivered in connection with the
claims of active service, to the Church or fellow-men. When
writing to " contemplatives " absorbed in the ecstasies and
trials of the interior life, her habitual warnings are against
excess, her constant plea, as here, for a perception of relative
values. She ranks, herself, alike as a great "contemplative"
and as a great woman of action ; both phases of experience
relate to something deeper. Her soul was athirst for the
Infinite, and well she knew that neither in deeds nor in ascetic
ecstasy, but only in " holy desire," in the life of ceaseless
aspiration "which prays for ever in the presence of God," can
our mortality attain to untrammelled union with Infinite Being.

J43

144 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter and sister in Christ sweet Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write to thee in His precious Blood, with desire to see in thee
the holy virtue of discretion, which it is necessary for us
to have if we wish to be saved. Why is it so necessary?
Because it proceeds from the knowledge of ourselves and
of God ; in this house its roots are planted. It is really an
offspring of charity, which, properly speaking, is discretion —
an illumined knowledge which the soul has, as I said, of God
and itself. The chief thing it does is this : having seen,
in a reasonable light, what it ought to render and to whom,
it renders this with perfect discretion at once. So it renders
glory to God and praise to His Name ; the soul achieves all
its works by this light and to this end. It renders to God His
due of honour — not like an indiscreet robber, who wants
to give honour to himself, and, seeking his own honour and
pleasure, does not mind insulting God and harming his neigh-
bour. When the roots of inclination in the soul are rotted by
indiscretion, all its works, relating to others or to itself, are
rotten. All relating to others, I say : for it imposes burdens
indiscreetly, and lays down the law to other people, seculars
or spiritual, or of whatever rank they may be. If such a
person admonishes or advises, he does it indiscreetly, and
wants to load everyone else with the burden which he carries
himself. The discreet soul, that sees its own need and that
of others reasonably, does just the opposite. When it has
rendered to God His due of honour, it gives its own due to
itself — that is, hatred of sin and of its own fleshliness. What
is the reason ? The love of virtue, which it loves in itself.
It renders its due to the neighbour with the same light as to
itself, and therefore I said, in relation to itself and to others.

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 145

So it gives goodwill to its neighbour, as it is bound to do,
loving virtue in him and hating sin. It loves him as a being
created by the Highest Eternal Father. And it gives him
loving charity more or less perfectly, according as it has this
in itself. Yes, this is the principal result which the virtue
of discretion achieves in the soul : it has seen clearly what
due it ought to render, and to whom.

These are three chief branches of that glorious discretion
which springs from the tree of charity. From this tree
spring infinite fruits, all mellow and very sweet, which nourish
the soul in the life of grace, when it plucks them with the
hand of free will, and eats them with holy eager desire.
Whatever condition a person may be in, he tastes these fruits,
if he has the light of discretion, in diverse ways, according
to his state. He who is placed in the world, and has
this light, gathers the fruit of obedience to the commands of
God, and distaste for the world, of which he divests him-
self in mind, although he may be clothed with it in fact. If
he has children, he plucks the fruit of the fear of God,
and nourishes them with this holy fear. If he is a noble-
man, he plucks the fruit of justice, discreetly wishing to '
render to everyone his due — so he punishes the unjust
man rigorously, and rewards the just, tasting the fruit of
reason, and for no flatteries or servile fear deserts this way.
If he is a subject, he gathers the fruit of obedience and
reverence toward his lord, avoiding any cause or means
by which he might offend him. Had he not seen these
things by the light, he would not have avoided them. If
men are monks or prelates, they get from the tree the sweet
and pleasing fruit of observing their Rule, enduring one
another's faults, embracing shames and annoyances, placing
on their shoulders the yoke of obedience. The prelate
takes desire for the honour of God and the salvation of souls,
seeking to win them by doctrine and exemplary life. In

146 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

what different ways and by what different people these fruits
are gathered ! It would take too long to tell them ; the
tongue could not express it.

But let us see, dearest daughter (now we will speak in
particular, and so we shall be speaking in general too), what
rule that virtue of discretion imposes on the soul. That rule
seems to me to apply both to the soul and body of people who
wish to live spiritually, in deed and thought. To be sure,
it regulates every person in his rank and place : but let us
now talk to ourselves. The first rule it gives to the soul
is that we have mentioned — to render honour to God, good-
will to one's neighbour, and to oneself, hatred of sin and of
one's own fleshliness. It regulates this charity toward the
neighbour ; for it is not willing to sacrifice the soul to him,
since, in order to do him good or pleasure, it is not willing
to offend God ; but it flees from guilt discreetly, yet holds
its body ready for every pain and torment, even to death,
to rescue a soul, and as many souls as it can, from the hands
of the devil. Also, it is ready to give up all its temporal
possessions to help and rescue the body of its neighbour.
Charity does this, when enlightened with discretion ; for
discretion should regulate one's charity to one's neighbour.
The indiscreet man does just the contrary, who does not
mind offending God, or sacrificing his soul, to serve or
please his neighbour — sometimes by keeping him company
in wicked places, sometimes by bearing false witness, or in
many other ways, as happens every day. This is the rule
of indiscretion, which proceeds from pride and perverse
self-love and the blindness of not having known oneself or
God.

And when measure and rule have been found in regard to
charity to the neighbour, discretion regulates also the matter
which keeps the soul in that charity, and makes it grow — that
is, in faithful, humble, and continual prayer; robing the soul

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 147

in the cloak of desire for virtue, that it may not be injured by
lukewarmness, negligence, or self-love, spiritual or temporal:
therefore it inspires the soul with this desire for virtue, that
its desire may not be placed on anything by which it might be
deceived.

Also, it rules and orders the creature physically, in this
way : the soul which is prepared to wish for God makes
its beginning as we have said ; but because it has the vessel
of its body, enlightened discretion must impose a rule on this,
as it has done upon the soul, since the body ought to be
a means for the increase of virtue. The rule withdraws
it from the indulgences and luxuries of the world, and
the conversation of worldlings ; gives it conversation with the
servants of God ; takes it from dissolute places, and keeps
it in places that stimulate devotion. It imposes restraint
on all the members of the body, that they be modest and
temperate : let the eye not look where it should not, but hold
before itself earth, and heaven ; let the tongue flee idle
and vain speech, and be disciplined to proclaim the word
of God for the salvation of the neighbour, and to confess
its sins : let the ear flee agreeable, flattering, dissolute words,
and any words of detraction that might be said to it ; and
let it hearken for the word of God, and the need of the
neighbour, willingly listening to his necessity. So let the hand
be swift in touching and working, and the feet in going :
to all, discretion gives a rule. And that the perverse law
of the flesh that fights against the spirit may not throw these
tools into disorder, it imposes a rule upon the body, mortify-
ing it with vigil, fast, and the other exercises which are all
meant to bridle our body.

But note, that all this is done, not indiscreetly, but with
enlightened discretion. How is this shown ? In this : that
the soul does not place its chief desire in any act of penance.
That it may not fall into such a fault as to take penance

148 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

for its chief desire, enlightened discretion takes pains to robe
the soul in the desire for virtue. Penance to be sure must be
used as a tool, in due times and places, as need may be. If
the flesh, being too strong, kicks against the spirit, penance
takes the rod of discipline, and fast, and the cilice of many
buds, and mighty vigils ; and places burdens enough on
the flesh, that it may be more subdued. But if the body
is weak, fallen into illness, the rule of discretion does not
approve of such a method. Nay, not only should fasting
be abandoned, but flesh be eaten ; if once a day is not enough,
then four times. If one cannot stand up, let him stay on his
bed ; if he cannot kneel, let him sit or lie down, as he needs,
This discretion demands. Therefore it insists that penance be
treated as a means and not as a chief desire.

Dost thou know why it must not be chief? That the soul
may not serve God with a thing that can be taken from it and
that is finite : but with holy desire, which is infinite, through
its union with the infinite desire of God ; and with the virtues
which neither devil nor fellow-creature nor weakness can take
from us, unless we choose. Herein must we make our
foundation, and not in penance. Nay, in weakness the virtue
of patience may be tested ; in vexing conflicts with devils,
fortitude and long perseverance ; and in adversities suffered
from our fellow-beings, humility, patience, and charity. So
as to all other virtues — God lets them be tested by many
contraries, but never taken from us, unless we choose.
Herein must we make our foundation, and not in penance.
The soul cannot have two foundations : either the one or the
other must be overthrown. Let the thing which is not
the chief, be used as a means. If I find my chief principle
in bodily penance, I build the city of my soul upon the sand,
so that each little breeze throws it to the earth, and no
building can be erected on it. But if I build upon the virtues,
founded upon the Living Stone, Christ sweet Jesus, there

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 149

is no building so great that it will not stand firmly, nor wind
so contrary that it can ever blow it down.

From these and many other difficulties that arise, it has
not been meant that penance should be used otherwise than
as a means. I have already seen many penitents who have
been neither patient nor obedient, because they have studied
to kill their bodies, but not their wills. The rule of in-
discretion has wrought this. Dost thou know the result ?
All their consolations and desires centre in carrying out their
penance to suit themselves, and not to suit anyone else.
Therein they nourish their will. While they can fulfil their
penance, they have consolation and gladness, and seem to
themselves full of God, as if they had accomplished every-
thing ; and they do not perceive that they fall into a mere
personal estimate, and into a judicial attitude. For if all people
do not walk in the same way, they seem to them in a state
of damnation, an imperfect state. They indiscreetly want
to measure all bodies by one same measure, by that with
which they measure themselves. And if one wants to with-
draw them from this, either to break their will or from
some necessity of theirs, they hold their will harder than a
diamond ; living in such wise, that at the time of test by a
temptation or injury, they find themselves, from indulgence
in this wrong will, weaker than straw.

Indiscretion taught them that penance bridled wrath, im-
patience, and the other sinful impulses that come into the
heart ; it is not so. This glorious light teaches thee that
thou shalt kill sin in thy soul, and draw out its roots, with
hatred and displeasure against thyself, loading thy fault with
rebuke, with the consideration of who God is whom thou
wrongest, and who thou art who wrongest Him, with
the memory of death and the longing for virtue. Penance
cuts off, yet thou wilt always find the root in thee, ready
to sprout again ; but virtue pulls up. Earth in which sins

ISO LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

have been planted is always ready to receive them again
if self-will puts them there with free choice ; not otherwise,
when once the root is pulled up.

It may happen that a sick body is obliged perforce to give
up its habits of life ; then it falls at once into weariness and
confusion of mind, deprived of all gladness : it thinks itself
condemned and confounded, and finds no sweetness in prayer,
such as it seemed to have in the time of its penance. And
whither is this sweetness gone ? Lost, with the personal will
on which it was built I This cannot be gratified, and so the
soul suffers. And why art thou fallen into such confusion
and almost despair? And where is the hope which thou
hadst in the Kingdom of God ? All lost, by means of that
very penance through which the soul hoped to have eternal
life ! Capable of this no more, it thinks itself deprived of the
other.

These are the fruits of indiscretion. Had the soul the
light of discretion, it would see that nothing but being with-
out virtues deprived it of God ; and it has eternal life through
virtue, by the Blood of Christ. Then let us rise above all
imperfection, and set our heart, as I said, on true virtues,
which are of such joy and gladsomeness as tongue could not
tell. There is none who can give pain to the soul founded on
virtue, or take from it the hope of heaven ; for it has put its
self-will to death in spiritual things as in temporal, and its
affections are not set on penance, or private consolations
or revelations, but on endurance through Christ crucified and
the love of virtue. So it is patient, faithful, hopes in God
and not in itself or its works : is humble and obedient, believ-
ing others rather than itself, because it does not presume.
It stretches wide the arms of mercy, and thereby drives forth
confusion of mind. In shadows and conflicts it uplifts the
light of faith, labouring manfully, with true and profound
humility ; and in gladness it enters into itself, that the heart

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 151

may not fall into vain glee. It is strong and persevering,
because it has put to death its own will, which made it
weak and inconstant. All times are the right time for it ;
all places the right place. If it is in a season of penance,
this is a time of gladness and consolation to it, using penance
as a means ; and if, by necessity or obedience, penance has
to be abandoned, it rejoices ; because its chief foundation, in
the love of virtue, cannot be and is not taken from it ; and
because it sees the contradiction of its own will, which it has
been enlightened to perceive must always be resisted with
great diligence and zeal.

It finds prayer in every place, for it bears ever with it the
place wherein God lives by grace, and where we ought to
pray- — that is, the house of our soul wherein holy desire prays
constantly. This desire is uplifted by the light of the mind
to be reflected in itself and in the immeasurable flame of
divine love, which it finds in the Blood shed for us, which
by largess of love it finds in the vase of the soul. This it
cares and should care to know, that it may drink deep of the
Blood, and therein consume its selfrwill — and not simply to
accomplish the count of many paternosters. So we shall make
our prayer continuous and faithful ; because in the fire of
His love we know that He is powerful to give us what we
ask. He is Highest Wisdom, who knows how to give and
discern what we need ; He is a most piteous and gracious
Father, who wishes to give us more than we desire, and more
than we know how to ask for our need. The soul is humble,
for it has recognized its own defects and that in itself it is
not. This is the kind of prayer through which we attain
virtue, and preserve in our souls the longing for it.

What is the beginning of so great good ? Discretion, the
daughter of charity, as I said. And it presents straightway
to its neighbour the good which it has itself. So it seeks to
present to its fellow-creature the foundation it has found,

152 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BEN1NCASA

and the love and the teaching it has received, and shows these
by example of life and doctrine, advising when it sees need or
when advice were asked of it. It comforts the soul of its
neighbour, and does not confound him by leading him into
despair when he has fallen into some fault ; but tenderly it
makes itself ill with that soul, giving him what healing it can,
and enlarging in him hope in the Blood of Christ crucified.

The virtue of discretion gives this and infinitely many other
fruits to the neighbour. Then, since it is so useful and necessary ?
dearest and most beloved daughter and sister mine in Christ
sweet Jesus, I summon thee and me to do what in past time
I confess not to have done with that perfection which I should.
It has not happened to thee as to me, to have been and to be
very faulty, or over-lax and easy-going in my life, instead
of strict, through my fault ; but thou, as one who has wished
to subdue her youthful body that it be not rebel to the soul,
hast chosen a life so extremely strict that apparently it is out
of all bounds of discretion ; in so much that it seems to me
that indiscretion is trying to make thee feel some of its
results, and is quickening thy self-will in this. And now that
thou art leaving what thou art accustomed to do, the devil
apparently is trying to make it seem to thee that thou art
damned. I am very much distressed at this, and I believe
that it is a great offence against .God. Therefore I will and
I beg thee that our beginning and foundation be in the love
of virtue, as I said. Kill thy self-will, and do what thou art
made to do ; pay attention rather to how things look to others
than to thyself. Thou dost feel thy body weak and ill ; take
every day the food that is needed to restore nature. And if
thy illness and weakness are relieved, undertake a regular life
in moderation, and not intemperately. Do not consent to let
the little good of penance hinder the greater; nor array thyself
therein as thy chief afFection — for thou wouldst find thyself
deceived: but wish that we may haste in sincerity upon the

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 153

beaten road of virtue, and that we may guide others on this
same road, breaking and shattering our own wills. If we have
the virtue of discretion in us, we shall do it-, otherwise, not.

Therefore I said that I desired to see in thee the holy virtue
of discretion. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. Forgive me should I have talked too pre-
sumptuously; the love of thy salvation, through the honour
of God, is my reason. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA

OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS

AND TO MASTER JOHN III.

OF THE ORDER OF THE HERMIT

BROTHERS OF ST. AUGUSTINE

AND TO ALL THEIR COMPANIONS

WHEN THEY WERE AT AVIGNON

Catherine's interest in public affairs is rising and widening,
This letter marks an inner crisis. Her thoughts and deeds
have, as we have seen, been already busied for some time
with the dissension between the Pope and his rebellious
Tuscan people : now the hour has come when she is to feel
herself solemnly dedicated, by a divine command, to the great
task of reconciliation. We overhear her, as it were, thinking
out in her Master's presence and with His aid the deepest
questions which the situation suggests : and as we listen to
that colloquy, so natural, so sweetly familiar, so deeply
reverent, we feel that no problems, however sorrowful and
perplexing, could be hopeless there. From communion with
her Lord, she went forth strong and reassured into the stormy
action of her time. Christ Himself, so she tells us, placed
the Cross upon her shoulder and the olive in her hand, changed
her mourning into a high and rapturous hope, and bade her
go, strong in the faith, to bear His message of joy "to one and
the other people." Thus she should be shown in art — Cross-
bearer like her Lord, and holding to the world the sign of
reconciliation. Thus did she start upon the Via Dolorosa
of the peace-maker •, from now on we shall follow her in her

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TO RAIMONDO OF CAPUA AND OTHERS 15s

letters, as she treads that way of sorrows which was also the
way of life.

The experience here described fell on the first of April,
1376. Early in May, the Florentines, knowing of her holy
fame, sent for her to come to their city and give them counsel.
For to defy the Vicar of Christ was a fearsome thing, and
many hearts were uneasy in the rebellious town.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest my sons in Christ Jesus. I your poor mother have
longed passionately to see your hearts and affections nailed to
the Cross, held together by the bond which grafted God into
man and man into God. So my soul longs to see your
affections grafted into the Incarnate Word Christ Jesus, in
such wise that nor demons nor creatures can divide you. For
if you are held and enkindled by sweet Jesus, I do not fear
that all the devils of hell with all their wiles can separate you
from so sweet love and union. So I wish, because there
is mighty need, that you should never cease from throwing
fuel on the fire of holy desire — the fuel of the knowledge
of yourselves. For that is the fuel which feeds the fire
of divine charity : charity which is won by knowlege of
the inestimable love of God, and then unites the soul with
its neighbour. And the more material one gives to the flame —
that is, the more fuel of self-knowledge — the more the warmth
of the love of Christ and one's neighbour increases. Abide, then,
hidden in the knowledge of yourselves, and do not live super-
ficially, lest Devil Malatasca catch you with many illusions and
reflections against one another : this he would do to take from
you your union in divine charity. So I will and command you
that the one be subject to the other, and each bear the faults
of the other ; learning from the Sweet Primal Truth, who
chose to be the least of men, and humbly bore all our faults

156 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

and iniquities. So I will that you do, dearest sons ; love, love,
love one another. And joy and exult, for the summer-tide
draws near.

For the first of April, especially in the night, God opened
His secrets, showing His marvellous things in such a wise that
my soul did not seem to be in the body, and received such joy
and plenitude as the tongue does not suffice to tell. He
explained and made clear part by part the mystery of the
persecution which Holy Church is now enduring, and of her
renewal and exaltation, which shall be in time to come : saying
that the present crisis is permitted to restore her to her true
condition. The Sweet Primal Truth quoted two words which
are in the Holy Gospel — " It must needs be that offences come
into the world": and then added : " But woe to him by whom
the offence cometh." As if He said: "I permit this time
of persecution, to uproot the thorns, with which My bride
is wholly choked ; but I do not permit the evil thoughts
of men. Dost thou know what I do ? I am doing as I did
when I was in the world, when I made the scourge of cords,
and drove out those who sold and bought in the Temple, not
choosing that the House of God should be made a den of
thieves. So I tell thee that I am doing now. For I have made
a scourge out of human beings, and with that scourge I drive
out the impure traffickers, greedy, avaricious, and swollen with
pride, who buy and sell the gifts of the Holy Spirit." Yes,
He was driving them forth with the scourge of the persecutions
of their fellow-beings — that is, by force of tribulation and per-
secution He put an end to their disorderly and immodest living.

And, the fire growing in me, I gazed and saw the Christian
people and the infidel enter into the side of Christ crucified ;
and I passed through the midst of them, by my loving and
longing desire, and entered with them into Christ Sweet Jesus,
accompanied by my father St. Dominic, and John the Single,
with all my sons together. Then He placed the Cross on my

TO RAIMONDO OF CAPUA AND OTHERS 157

shoulder and the olive in my hand, almost as if I had asked for
them, and "said that thus I should bear them, to the one and
to the other people. And He said to me : " Tell them,
I bring you tidings of great joy." Then my soul became
more full ; it was lost to itself among the true believers who
feed upon the Divine Substance, by the uniting force and
longing of love. And so great was the delight of my soul,
that it no longer realized its past affliction from seeing God
wronged ; nay ! I said : " O blessed and fortunate wrong ! "
Then sweet Jesus smiled, and said : " Is sin fortunate, which
is nothing at all ? Dost thou know what St. Gregory meant
when he said, ' Blessed and fortunate fault ' ? What element
is it that thou holdest as fortunate and blessed, and that
Gregory calls so ? " I replied as He made me reply, and said :
"I see well, sweet my Lord, and well I know, that sin is not
worthy of good fortune, and is not fortunate nor blessed
in itself; but the fruit may be, which comes from sin. It
seems to me that Gregory meant this : that through the sin
of Adam, God gave us the Word, His only-begotten Son,
and the Word gave His Blood, so that, giving His life, He
restored life with a great fire of love. So, then, sin is fortunate,
not through the sin itself, but from the fruit and the gift we
receive by that sin." Now, so it is. Thus from the wrong
done by the wicked Christians who persecute the Bride of
Christ, spring her exaltation, her light, and the fragrance
of her virtues. This was so sweet that there seemed no
comparison between the wrong, and the unsearchable goodness
and benignity of God, which He showed toward His Bride.
Then I rejoiced and exulted, and was so arrayed in assurance
of the time to come that I seemed to possess and taste it.
And I said then with Simeon : " Nunc dimittis servum tuum,
Domine, secundum verbum tuum, in pace." So many mysteries
were wrought in me as tongue cannot suffice to tell nor heart
to think nor eye to see.

158 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

Now, what tongue could suffice to tell the wonderful things
of God ? Not mine, poor wretch that I am. Therefore
I choose to keep silence, and to give me wholly to seeking
the honour of God and the salvation of souls and the renewal
and exaltation of Holy Church, and through grace and power
of the Holy Spirit to persevere even unto death. With this
desire I called our Christ on earth, and I will call him, with
great love and compassion, and you, father, and all my dear
sons ; I made and was granted your petition. Rejoice, then,
rejoice and exult. O sweet God our Love, fulfil quickly the
desires of thy servants ! I will say no more — and I have said
nothing. I die, delayed in my desires. Have compassion
on me. Pray the divine Goodness and Christ on earth that
there be no more loitering. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. Drown you in the Blood of Christ crucified ;
and on no account faint, but rather take comfort. Rejoice,
rejoice, in your sweet labours. Love, love, love one another.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO SISTER BARTOLOMEA DELLA SETA

NUN IN THE CONVENT OF
SANTO STEFANO AT PISA

The conflicts of the cloister and of the court are not dissimi-
lar ; and the first, to Catherine, are as real and significant as
the second. She writes in a familiar strain to Sister Bartolomea.
The truths on which she is insisting have been reiterated in
every age by guides to the spiritual life, But whenever,
as here, they come from the depths of personal experience,
they possess peculiar freshness and force ; and, indeed, this
Colloquy of the Saint of Siena with her Lord has become
a locus classtcus in the literature of the interior life.

One likes to note, in passing, how frequently Catherine
urges frail, cloistered women, sheltered from all the din and
storm of outer life, to " manfulness." " Virile," " virilmente"
— they are among her especial words. And, indeed, they well
befit her own spirit, singularly vigorous and fearless for a
woman whose feminine sensitiveness is evident in every letter
she writes.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ Jesus. I Catherine, servant and
slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you a true bride, conse-
crated to the eternal Bridegroom. It belongs to a bride to
make her will one with that of her bridegroom ; she cannot
will more than he wills, and seems unable to think of anything
but him. Now do you so think, daughter mine, for you, who are

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160 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

a bride of Christ crucified, ought not to think or will anything
apart from Him — that is, not to consent to any other thoughts.
That thoughts should not come, this I do not tell thee —
because neither thou nor any created being couldst prevent
them. For the devil never sleeps ; and God permits this to
make His bride reach perfect zeal and grow in virtue. This
is the reason why God sometimes permits the mind to remain
sterile and gloomy, and beset by many perverse cogitations, so
that it seems unable to think of God, and can hardly remember
His Name.

Beware, when thou mayest feel this in thyself, lest thou fall
into weariness or bewildered confusion, and do not give up
thy exercises nor the act of praying, because the devil may say
to thee: "How does this prayer uplift thee, since thou dost
not offer it with any feeling or desire ? It would be better
for thee not to make it." Yet do not give up, nor fall for this
into confusion, but reply manfully: "I would rather exert
myself for Christ crucified, feeling pain, gloom and inward
conflicts, than not exert myself and feel repose." And reflect,
that this is the state of the perfect j if it were possible for them
to escape Hell, and have joy in this life and joy eternal beside,
they do not want it, because they delight so greatly in conform-
ing themselves to Christ crucified ; nay, they want to live rather
by the way of the Cross and pain, than without pain. Now
what greater joy can the bride have than to be conformed to
her bridegroom, and clothed with like raiment ? So, since
Christ crucified in His life chose naught but the Cross and
pain, and clothed Him in this raiment, His bride holds herself
blessed when she is clothed in this same raiment ; and because
she sees that the Bridegroom has loved her so beyond measure,
she loves and receives Him with such love and desire as no
tongue can suffice to tell. Therefore the Highest and Eternal
Goodness, to make her attain most perfect love and possess
humility, permits her many conflicts and a dry mind, that the

TO SISTER BARTOLOMEA DELLA SETA 161

creature may know itself and see that it is not. For were it
anything, it would free itself from pain when it chose, but
being naught it cannot. So, knowing itself, it is humbled in
its non-existence, and knows the goodness of God, which,
through grace, has given it being, and every grace that is
founded upon being.

But thou wilt say to me : " When I have so much pain, and
suffer so many conflicts and such gloom, I can see nothing but
confusion ; and it does not seem as if I could take any hope,
I see myself so wretched." I reply to thee, my daughter,
that if thou shalt seek, thou shalt find God in thy goodwill.
Granted that thou feel many conflicts, do thou not therefore
feel thy will deprived of wishing God. Nay, this is the
reason why the soul mourns and suffers, because it fears to
offend God. It ought then to joy and exult, and not to fall
into confusion through its conflicts, seeing that God keeps its
will good, and gives it hatred of mortal sin.

I remember that I heard this said once to a servant of God,
and it was said to her by the Sweet Primal Truth, when she was
abiding in very great pain and temptation, and among other
things, felt the greatest confusion, in so much that the devil
said : "What wilt thou do? for all the time of thy life thou
shalt abide in these pains, and then thou shalt have hell." She
then answered with manly heart, and without any fear, and
with holy hatred of herself, saying : " I do not avoid pains,
for I have chosen pains for my refreshment. And if at the
end He should give me hell, I will not therefore abandon
serving my Creator. For I am she who am worthy of abiding
in hell, because I wronged the Sweet Primal Truth ; so, did
He give me hell, He would do me no wrong, since I am His."
Then our Saviour, in this sweet and true humility, scattered
the shadows and torments of the devil, as it happens when the
cloud passes that the sun remains ; and suddenly came the
Presence of Our Saviour. Thence she melted into a river of
M

i6z LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

tears, and said in a sweet glow of love : " O sweet and good
Jesus, where wast thou when my soul was in such affliction ? "
Sweet Jesus, the Spotless Lamb, replied : " I was beside thee.
For I move not, and never- leave My creature, unless the
creature leave Me through mortal sin." And that woman
abode in sweet converse with Him, and said : " If Thou wast
with me, how did I not feel Thee ? How can it be that being
by the fire, I should not feel the heat ? And I felt nothing
but freezing cold, sadness, and bitterness, and seemed to my-
self full of mortal sins." He replied sweetly, and said :
"Dost thou wish Me to show thee, daughter mine, how in
those conflicts thou didst not fall into mortal sin, and how
I was beside thee ? Tell me, what is it that makes sin mortal ?
Only the will. For sin and virtue consist in the consent of the
will ; there is no sin nor virtue, unless voluntarily wrought.
This will was not in thee ; for had it been, thou wouldst have
taken joy and delight in the suggestions of the devil ; but
since the will was not there, thou didst grieve over them, and
suffer for fear of doing wrong. So thou seest that sin and virtue
consist in choice — wherefore I tell thee that thou shouldst not,
on account of these conflicts, fall into disordered confusion.
But I will that from this darkness thou derive the light of self-
knowledge, in which thou mayest gain the virtue of humility,
and joy and exult in a good will, knowing that then I abide
in thee secretly. The will is a sign to thee that I am
there ; for hadst thou an evil will, I should not be in thee
by grace. But knowest thou how I thus abide in thee ? In
the same way in which I hung upon the wood of the Cross.
And I take the same way with you that my Father took
with Me. Reflect, daughter mine, that upon the Cross I was
blessed and was sorrowful ; blessed I was by the union of the
divine and the human nature, and nevertheless the flesh en-
dured pain, because the Eternal Father withdrew His power
to Himself, letting Me suffer ; but He did not withdraw the

TO SISTER BARTOLOMEA DELLA SETA 163

union in which He was for ever united with Me. Reflect that
in this way I abide in the soul ; for often I withdraw to myself
feeling, but do not withdraw grace, since grace is never lost,
except by mortal sin, as I said. But knowest thou why I do
this ? Only to make the soul reach true perfection. Thou
knowest that the soul cannot be perfect unless borne on these
two wings, humility and charity. Humility is won through
the knowledge of itself, into which it enters in the time of
darkness ; and charity is won by seeing that I, through love,
have kept its will holy and good. Wherefore, I tell thee, that
the wise soul, seeing that from this experience proceeds such
profit, reassures itself (and for no other cause do I permit the
devil to give you temptations), and will hold this time dearer
than any other. Now I have told thee the way I take. And
reflect, that such experience is very necessary to your salva-
tion ; for if the soul were not sometimes pressed by many
temptations, it would fall into very great negligence, and would
lose the exercise of continual desire and prayer. Because in
the hour of battle it is more alert, through fear of its foes,
and provisions the rock of its soul, having recourse to Me
who am its Fortitude. But this is not the intention of the
devil — for I permit him to tempt you that he may make you
attain virtue, though he, on his part, tempts you to make you
attain despair. Reflect that the devil will tempt a person who
is dedicated to My service, not because he believes that the
man may actually fall into that sin, for he sees at once that
he would choose death rather than actually to do wrong.
But what does he do ? He exerts himself to make the man
fall into confusion, saying : * No good is of any use to you,
on account of these thoughts and impulses that come to
you.' Now thou seest how great is the malice of the devil ;
for, not being able to conquer in the first battle, he often
conquers in the second, under guise of virtue. Wherefore
I do not want thee ever to follow his malicious will j but I

164 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

want thee to assume My will, as I have told thee. This is
the rule which I give thee, and which I wish the® to teach
others when there is need."

Now thus I tell thee, dearest my daughter, that I want thee
to do. And be for me a mirror of virtue, following the foot-
steps of Christ crucified. Bathe thee in the Blood of Christ
crucified, and so live, as is my will, that thou nor seek nor will
aught but the Crucified, like a true bride, bought with the
Blood of Christ crucified. "Well seest thou that thou art a
bride, and that He has wedded thee and every creature, not
with a ring of silver, but with the ring of His Flesh. O depth
and height of Love unspeakable, how didst Thou love this Bride,
the human race ! O Life through which all things do live,
Thou hast plucked it from the hands of the devil, who
possessed it as his own ; from his hands Thou hast plucked it,
catching the devil with the hook of Thy humanity, and hast
wedded it with Thy flesh. Thou hast given Thy Blood for
a pledge, and at the last, sacrificing Thy body, Thou hast
made the payment. Now drink deep, my daughter, and fall
not into negligence, but arise with true zeal, and by this
Blood may the hardness of thy heart be broken in such wise
that it never may close again, for any ignorance or negligence,
nor for the speech of any creature. I say no more. Remain
in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus
Love.

TO GREGORY XI

Catherine, sent by the Florentines as their representative to
the Pope, has reached Avignon and seen the Holy Father.
Far from being overawed in his presence, she has evidently
felt toward him a mingling of sympathy and tenderness not
untouched by compassion. She is impressed by the sensitive-
ness of the man — by the strength of the adverse influences
continually playing upon him from his own household ; above
all, by his extreme timidity. The gentle, reassuring tone of
this letter is almost like that of a mother encouraging a dear
but weak-spirited child to make his own decisions and to abide
by them. Catherine's sweetness of nature preserves her from
viewing Gregory with any tinge of contempt ; but we cannot
help feeling the contrast between this frail woman of heroic
soul and the hesitating figure of the Pope.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Most holy and blessed father in Christ sweet Jesus : your
poor unworthy little daughter Catherine comforts you in His
precious Blood, with desire to see you free from any servile
fear. For I consider that a timorous man cuts short the vigour
of holy resolves and good desire, and so I have prayed, and
shall pray, sweet and good Jesus that He free you from all
servile fear, and that holy fear alone remain. May ardour of
charity be in you, in such wise as shall prevent you from
hearing the voice of incarnate demons, and heeding the
counsel of perverse counsellors, settled in self-love, who, as I
understand, want to alarm you, so as to prevent your return,

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1 66 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

saying, " You will die." And I tell you on behalf of Christ
crucified, most sweet and holy father, not to fear for any
reason whatsoever. Come in security : trust you in Christ
sweet Jesus : for, doing what you ought, God will be above
you, and there will be no one who shall be against you. Up,
father, like a man ! For I tell you that you have no need to
fear. You ought to come ; come, then. Come gently, with-
out any fear. And if any at home wish to hinder you, say to
them bravely, as Christ said when St. Peter, through tender-
ness, wished to draw Him back from going to His passion ;
Christ turned to him, saying, " Get thee behind Me, Satan ;
thou art an offence to Me, seeking the things which are of
men, and not those which are of God. Wilt thou not that I
fulfil the will of My Father?" Do you likewise, sweetest
father, following Him as His vicar, deliberating and deciding
by yourself, and saying to those who would hinder you, " If
my life should be spent a thousand times, I wish to fulfil the
will of my Father." Although bodily life be laid down for
it, yet seize on the life of grace and the means of winning it
for ever. Now comfort you and fear not, for you have no
need. Put on the armour of the most holy Cross, which is the
safety and the life of Christians. Let talk who will, and hold
you firm in your holy resolution. My father, Fra Raimondo,
said to me on your behalf that I was to pray God to see
whether you were to meet with an obstacle, and I had already
prayed about it, before and after Holy Communion, and I saw
neither death nor any peril. Those perils are invented by the
men who counsel you. Believe, and trust you in Christ sweet
Jesus. I hope that God will not despise so many prayers,
made with so ardent desire, and with many tears and sweats.
I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God.
Pardon me, pardon me. Jesus Christ crucified be with you.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love. .

TO THE KING OF FRANCE

Catherine's letters to great personages whom she did not
know are, as would be expected, less searching and fresh
than the many written with a more personal inspiration, but
they afford at least an interesting testimony to the breadth
of her interests. This letter to Charles V. was evidently
written during her stay at Avignon, where she formed
relations with the Duke of Anjou, and received his promise
to lead in the prospective Crusade. Avignon was a centre
of intellectual life and of European politics, and Catherine
must have been quickened there to think more than ever
before in large terms and on great issues. To think of a
matter is always, for her, to feel a sense of responsibility
toward it; she writes, accordingly, to Charles V., urging him
to make peace with his brother monarch : " For so," says the
maid of Siena serenely to the great King — " So you will fulfil
the will of God and me."

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest lord and father in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write
to you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you observe
the holy and sweet commands of God, since I consider that
in no other way can we share the fruit of the Blood of the
Spotless Lamb. Sweet Jesus, the Lamb, has taught us the
Way : and thus He said : " Ego sum Via, Veritas et Vita."
He is the sweet Master who has taught us the doctrine,
ascending the pulpit of the most holy Cross. Venerable

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168 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

father, what doctrine and what way does He give us ? His
way is this : pains, shames, insults, injuries, and abuse ;
endurance in true patience, hunger and thirst ; He was satiate
with shame, nailed and held upon the Cross for the honour
of the Father and our salvation. With His pains and shame
He gave satisfaction for pur guilt, and the reproach in which
man had fallen through the sin committed. He has made
restitution, and has punished our sins on His own Body, and
this He has done of love alone and not for debt.

This sweet Lamb, our Way, has despised the world, with
all its luxuries and dignity, and has hated vice and loved
virtue. Do you, as son and faithful servant of Christ cruci-
fied, follow His footsteps and the way which He teaches
you : bear in true patience all pain, torment, and tribulation
which God permits the world to inflict on you. For patience
is not overcome, but overcomes the world. Be, ah ! be a lover
of virtue, founded in true and holy justice, and despise
vice. I beg you, by love of Christ crucified, to do in your
state three especial things. The first is, to despise the world
and yourself and all its joys, possessing your kingdom as
a thing lent to you, and not your own. For well you know
that nor life nor health nor riches nor honour nor dignity
nor lordship is your own. Were they yours, you could
possess them in your own way. But in such an hour a man
wishes to be well, he is ill ; or living, and he is dead ; or rich,
and he is poor ; or a lord, and he is made a servant and
vassal. All this is because these things are not his own, and
he can only hold them in so far as may please Him who has
lent them to him. Very simple-minded, then, is the man who
holds the things of another as his own. He is really a thief,
and worthy of death. Therefore I beg you that, as The
Wise, you should act like a good steward, made His steward
by God ; possessing all things as merely lent to you.

The other matter is, that you maintain holy and true

TO THE KING OF FRANCE 169

justice ; let it not be ruined, either for self-love or for
flatteries, or for any pleasing of men. And do not connive
at your officials doing injustice for money, and denying right
to the poor : but be to the poor a father, a distributer of
what God has given you. And seek to have the faults
that are found in your kingdom punished and virtue exalted.
For all this appertains to the divine justice to do.

The third matter is, to observe the doctrine which that
Master upon the Cross gives you ; which is the thing that my
soul most desires to see in you : that is, love and affection
with your neighbour, with whom you have for so long a time
been at war. For you know well that without this root
of love, the tree of your soul would not bear fruit, but would
dry up, abiding in hate and unable to draw up into itself
the moisture of grace. Alas, dearest father, the Sweet
Primal Truth teaches it to you, and leaves you for a command-
ment, to love God above everything, and one's neighbour
as one's self. He gave you the example, hanging upon the
wood of the most holy Cross. When the Jews cried
" Crucify ! " He cried with meek and gentle voice : " Father,
forgive those who crucify Me, who know not what they do."
Behold His unsearchable love ! For not only does He pardon
them, but excuses them before His Father ! What example
and teaching is this, that the Just, who has in Him no poison
of sin, endures from the unjust the punishment of our
iniquities !

Oh, how the man should be ashamed who follows the
teaching of the devil and his own lower nature, caring more
to gain and keep the riches of this world, which are all vain,
and pass like the wind, than for his soul and his neighbour !
For while abiding in hate with his neighbour, he has hate
by his side, since hate deprives him of divine charity. Surely
he is foolish and blind, for he does not see that with the
sword of hate to his neighbour he is killing himself.

170 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

Therefore I beg you, and will that you follow Christ cru-
cified, and love your neighbour's salvation : proving that you
follow the Lamb, who for hunger of His Father's honour
and the salvation of souls chose bodily death. So do you, my
lord ! Care not if you lose from your worldly substance ; for
loss will be gain to you, provided that you can reconcile your
soul with your brother. I marvel that you are not willing
to devote to this, not only temporal things, but even, were
it possible, life itself: considering how great destruction
of souls and bodies there has been, and how many Religious
and women and children have been injured and exiled by this
war. No more, by love of Christ crucified ! Do you not
reflect of how great harm you are cause, if you fail to do
what you can ? Harm to the Christians, and harm to infidels.
For your strife has obstructed the mystery of the Holy
Crusade, and is doing so still. If no other harm than this
followed, it seems to me that we ought to expect the divine
judgment. I beg you that you be no longer a worker of
so great harm and an obstructer of so great good as the
recovery of Holy Land and of those poor wretched souls
who do not share in the Blood of the Son of God. Of which
thing you ought to be ashamed, you and the other Christian
rulers : for this is a very great confusion in the sight of men
and abomination in the sight of God, that war should be
made against one's brother, and the enemy left alone, and that
a man should want to take away another person's possessions
and not to win his own back again. No more such folly and
blindness ! I tell you, on behalf of Christ crucified, that you
delay no longer to make this peace. Make peace, and direct
all your warfare to the infidels. Help to encourage and uplift
the standard of the most holy Cross, which God shall demand
from you and others at the point of death — demanding also
from you account for such ignorance and negligence as has
been committed and is committed every day. Sleep no more,

TO THE KING OF FRANCE 171

for love of Christ crucified, and for your own profit, during
the little time that remains to us : for time is short, and you
are to die, and know not when.

May the flame of holy desire to follow this holy Cross and
to be reconciled with your neighbour, increase in you ! In
this wise you will follow the way and doctrine of the Lamb
slain and abandoned on the Cross, and you will observe the
commandments. You will follow the way, enduring with
patience the injuries that have been offered you •, the doctrine,
being reconciled with your neighbour ; and the love of God,
which you will manifest by following the most holy Cross in
the holy and sweet Crusade. As to this matter, I think that
your brother, Messer the Duke of Anjou, will undertake the
labour of this holy enterprise, for the love of Christ. There
would be reason for self-reproach did so sweet and holy a
mystery remain unfulfilled through you. Now in this wise
you will follow the footsteps of Christ crucified, you will
fulfil the will of God and me, and His commands : as I told
you that I wished to see you observe the holy commands of
God. I say no more. Pardon my presumption. Remain in
the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love

LETTERS TO FLORENCE

The Florentines played with Catherine as history shows that
subtle folk to have played with more than one of the friends
whose services they accepted ; the story of their dealings with
her strongly recalls the situation in Browning's Luria. Having
been despatched ostensibly with full powers as harbinger of
the formal embassy to be sent later, Catherine carried through
her part of the negotiations with expedition, prudence and
entire success. It shows how such unconventional democracy
and matter-of-fact respect for spiritual values existed in the
later middle ages, that no one seems to have been surprised
at the situation. Apparently it was considered quite natural
that a powerful republic should send as its representative
to the papal court a young woman, the daughter of simple
tradespeople, whose life had been quietly passed in her
father's house. Gregory bore himself to Catherine with
compunctious deference. On the third day after her arrival
she spoke in full consistory, pleading the cause of peace. The
result she records in this letter : the Pope put the whole
matter in her hands. To the young Dominican were left the
terms of reconciliation between the two rival powers.

All now depended upon the arrival of the Florentine
ambassadors ; but these gentlemen failed to appear, while
Florence continued to pursue a contumacious policy. The
insult, alike to the Pope and to Catherine, was obvious.
Avignon jested, shrugged shoulders, finally sneered. Gregory
gently told Catherine the truth — that her friends had played
her false. Few more mortifying situations than that in which
she found herself could be conceived.

172

LETTERS TO FLORENCE 173

The spirited letter which follows was written ten days after
her arrival. She speaks, as usual, without reserve, but it is
noteworthy that the letter contains no word of personal reproof
beyond the quiet statement : " You might bring great shame
and reproach upon me. For nothing but shame and confusion
could result if I told the Pope one thing and you another."
When at last the ambassadors arrived, they brought small
comfort, for they refused to confer with Catherine. In the
second letter, written after they had come to a personal friend
in Florence, she tells the situation frankly, and with dignity,
but still with remarkable freedom from personal bitterness.
In this time of test, no lower element than sorrow for the
failure of her cause appears to have been present in her mind.

TO THE EIGHT OF WAR CHOSEN BY THE COM-
MUNE OF FLORENCE, AT WHOSE INSTANCE
THE SAINT WENT TO POPE GREGORY XI

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest fathers and brothers in Christ Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you
in His precious Blood : with desire to see you true sons,
humble and obedient to your father in such wise that you may
never look back, but feel true grief and bitterness over the
wrong that you have done to your father. For if he who
does wrong does not rise in grief above the wrong he has
done, he does not deserve to receive mercy. I summon you
to true humiliation of your hearts •, not looking back, but going
forward, following up the holy resolutions which you began to
take, and growing stronger in them every day, if you wish
to be received in the arms of your father. As sons who have

174 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

been dead, do you ask for life ; and I hope by the goodness of
God that you shall have it, if you are willing really to humble
yourselves and to recognize your faults.

But I complain strongly of you, if it is true what is said in
these parts, that you have imposed a tax upon the clergy. If
this is so, it is a very great evil for two reasons. The first is
that you are wronging God by it, for you cannot do it with a
good conscience. But it seems to me that you are losing your
conscience and everything good ; it seems as if you cared for
nothing but transitory things of sense, that pass like the wind.
Do you not see that we are mortal, and must die, and know
not when ? Therefore it is great folly to throw away the life
of grace, and to bring death on one's own self. I do not wish
you to do so any more, for if you did you would be turning
back, and you know that it is not he who begins who deserves
glory, but he who perseveres to the end. So I tell you that
you would never reach an effective peace, unless by persever-
ance in humility, no longer insulting or offending the ministers
and priests of Holy Church.

This is the other thing that I was telling you was harmful
and bad. For beside the evil I spoke of that comes from
wronging God, I tell you that such action is ruin to your
peace. For the Holy Father, if he knew it, would conceive
greater indignation against you.

That is what some of the cardinals have said, who are
seeking and eagerly desiring peace. Now, hearing this
report, they say • "It doesn't seem true that the Florentines
want to have peace made; for if it were true, they would
beware of any least action that was against the will of the
Holy Father and the habits of Holy Church." I believe that
sweet Christ on earth himself may say these and like words,
and he has excellent reason to say them if he does.

I tell you, dearest fathers, and I beg you, not to choose to
hinder the grace of the Holy Spirit, which by no merits of

LETTERS TO FLORENCE 175

yours He by His clemency is disposed to give yon. You
might bring great shame and reproach upon me. For nothing
but shame and confusion could result if I told the Holy
Father one thing and you did another. I beg you that it may
not be so any more. Nay, do you exert yourselves to show
in word and deed that you wish peace and not war.

I have talked to the Holy Father. He heard me graciously,
by God's goodness and his own, showing that he had a warm
love of peace ; like a good father, who does not consider so
much the wrong the son has done to him, as whether he has
become humble, so that he may be shown full mercy. What
peculiar joy he felt my tongue could not tell. Having dis-
cussed with him a good length of time, at the end of our
talk he said that if your case were as I presented it to him,
he was ready to receive you as sons, and to do what seemed
best to me. I say no more here. It seems to me that
absolutely no other answer ought to be given to the Holy
Father until your ambassadors arrive. I marvel that they are
not here yet. When they shall have come, I shall talk to
them, and then to the Holy Father, and as I shall find things
disposed I will write you. But you, with your taxes and
frivolities, are spoiling all that is sown. Do so no more, for
the love of Christ crucified and for your own profit. I say
no more. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

Given in Avignon, the 28th day of June, 1376. .

TO BUONACCORSO DI LAPO IN FLORENCE
WRITTEN WHEN THE SAINT WAS AT AVIGNON

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mar]/ :

Dearest brother in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to
you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you and the
others your lords, pacify your heart and soul in His most
sweet Blood, wherein all hate and warfare is quenched, and
all human pride is lowered. For in the Blood man sees God
humbled to his own level, assuming our humanity, which was
opened and nailed and fastened on the Cross, so that it flows
from the wounds of the Body of Christ crucified, and pours
over us the Blood which is ministered to us by the ministers
of Holy Church, I beg you by the love of Christ crucified
to receive the treasure of the Blood given you by the Bride
of Christ. Be reconciled, be reconciled to her in the Blood ;
recognize your sins and offences against her. For he who
recognizes his sin, and shows that he does so by his deeds,
and humbles him, always receives mercy. But he who shows
repentance only in speech, and goes no further in works,
never finds it. I do not say this so much for you as for others
who might fall into this fault.

Oh me, oh me, dearest brother ! I mourn over the
methods which have prevailed in asking the Holy Father for
peace. For words have been more in evidence than deeds.
I say this because when I came yonder into the presence of
you and your lords, they seemed by their words to have

176

TO BUONACCORSO DI LAPO IN FLORENCE 177

repented for their wrong, and to be willing to humble them-
selves and to ask mercy from the Holy Father. And when
I said to them ; " See, gentlemen, if you intend to show all
possible humility in deed and speech, and wish me to offer you
like dead children to your father, I will take all the trouble
you wish in this matter, otherwise I will not go yonder," they
answered me that they were content. Alas, alas ! dearest
brothers, this was the way and the door by which you ought
to have entered, and there is no other. Had this way been
followed in deed as in word, you would have had the most
glorious peace that anyone ever gained. And I do not say
this without reason, for I know what the Holy Father's dis-
position was °, but since we began to leave that path, following
the astute ways of the world, doing differently from what
our words had previously implied, the Holy Father has had
reason, not for peace, but for more disturbance. For when
your ambassadors came into these parts, they did not hold to
the right way which the servants of God indicated to them.
You went on in your own ways. And I never had a chance
to confer with them, as you told me that you would direct
when I asked for a letter of credentials, so that we might
confer together about everything, and you said : " We do
not believe that this thing will ever be accomplished by any
other hands than those of the servants of God." Exactly the
contrary has been done. All is because we have not yet true
recognition of our faults. I perceive that those humble words
proceeded rather from fear and policy than from a real im-
pulse of love and virtue ; for had the wrong done really been
recognized, deeds would have corresponded to the sound of
words, and you would have trusted your needs and what you
wished from the Holy Father to the hands of the true
servants of God. They would so have conducted your
affairs and those of the Holy Father that you would have
reached a good understanding. You have not done it j where-

178 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

fore I have felt great bitterness, over the wrong done to
God and over our loss.

But you do not see what evil and what great misfortunes
come from your obstinacy, and clinging fast to your resolu-
tion ! Oh me, oh me ! loose yourselves from the bond of
pride, and bind you to the humble Lamb ; and do not scorn
or oppose His Vicar. No more thus ! For the love of
Christ crucified ! Hold not His Blood cheap ! That which
has not been done in past time, do it now. Do not feel bitter
or scornful should it seem to you that the Holy Father de-
manded what appeared very hard and impossible to do.
Nevertheless he will not wish anything but what is possible
to you. But he does as a true father, who beats his son
when he does wrong. He reproves him very severely, to
make him humble, and cognizant of his fault ; and the true
son does not grow angry with his father, for he sees that
whatever he does is done for love of him ; therefore the more
the father drives him off, the more he returns to him, ever
asking for mercy. So I tell you, on behalf of Christ crucified,
that the more times you should be spurned by our father
Christ on earth, so many times you are to flee to him. Let
him do as he will, for he is right.

Behold that now he is coming to his bride, that is to hold
the seat of St. Peter and St. Paul. Do you run to him at
once, with true humility of heart and amendment of your
sins, following the holy principle with which you began. So
doing, you shall have peace, spiritual and bodily. And if you
do in any other way, our ancestors never had so many woes as
we shall have, for we shall call down the wrath of God upon
us, and shall not share in the Blood of the Lamb.

I say no more. Be as urgent as you can, now that the Holy
Father is to be at Rome. I have done, and shall do, what I
can, until death, for the honour of God and for your peace, in
order that this obstacle may be removed, for it hinders the

TO BUONACCORSO DI LAPO IN FLORENCE 179

holy and sweet Crusade. If no other ill should come from it,
we are worthy of a thousand hells. Comfort you in Christ
our sweet Jesus, for I hope by His goodness that if you will
keep in the way you should you will have a good peace.
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love.

TO GREGORY XI

The attempt to reconcile Gregory with the Florentines mis-
carried through their own fault. Catherine, far from being
daunted by mortification or failure, bent herself with new
energy to the cause which she had even more deeply at heart
— the return of the Pope to Rome. The ascendency which
she obtained over his sensitive spirit was soon evident to
everyone, and no sooner was it realized than counter influences
were set to work. Other people beside this woman of Siena
could write letters, and, since Gregory proved superstitious
and susceptible to the influence of holy fools, why, there
were ecstatics enough in Europe ! The Pope, as is obvious
from this reply of Catherine's, had received an anonymous
epistle, craftily wrought, purporting to come from a man of
God, working on his well-known love for his family and
timidity of nature, warning him of poison should he venture
to return to Rome. Whether Catherine's surmise that the
letter was a forgery proceeding from the papal court was
justified we do not know ; the episode is of interest to us now
chiefly because it called forth a reply which shows how sar-
donic the meek of the earth can be. Catherine's trenchant
exposure of the weakness of the anonymous correspondent
shows her in a new aspect. Terrible is the scorn of the
gentle. " He who wrote it does not seem to me to under-
stand his trade very well ; he ought to put himself to school,"
writes she, and proceeds with analysis so convincing and
exhortation so invigorating, that even the vacillating Gregory
must have been magnetized afresh with power to resolve.
One feels in the letter that Catherine is as near impatience

180

TO GREGORY XI 181

with him and with the situation as is permitted to a saint.
Gregory must have felt the sting in her words when she tells
him plainly that his correspondent treats him like a coward or
a frightened child, and adds on her own part, " I pray you on
behalf of Christ crucified that you be no longer a timorous
child, but manly. Open your mouth, and swallow down the
bitter for the sake of the sweet." If anyone could hold a
weak nature true to its better self, it would be this woman,
endued as she was with a vitality that tingles through her
words down the centuries.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Most holy and reverend sweet father in Christ sweet Jesus :
your poor unworthy daughter Catherine, servant and slave of
the servants of Jesus Christ, writes to your Holiness in His
precious Blood, with desire to see you so strong and persever-
ing in your holy resolve that no contrary wind can hinder you,
neither devil nor creature. For it seems that your enemies
are disposed to come, as Our Saviour says in His holy gospel,
in sheeps' raiment, looking like lambs, while they are ravening
wolves. Our Saviour says that we should be on our guard
against such. Apparently, sweet father, they are beginning
to approach you in writing ; and beside writing, they announce
to you the coming of the author, saying that he will arrive at
your door when you know it not. The man sounds humble
when he says, " If it is open to me, I will enter and we will
reason together " ; but he puts on the garment of humility
only that he may be believed. And the virtue in which pride
cloaks itself is really boastful.

So far as I have understood, this person has treated your
Holiness in this letter as the devil treats the soul, who often,
under colour of virtue and compassion, injects poison into it.
And he uses this device especially with the servants of God,

182 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

because he sees that he could not deceive them with open sin
alone. So it seems to me that this incarnate demon is doing
who has written you under colour of compassion and in holy
style, for the letter purports to come from a holy and just
man, and it does come from wicked men, counsellors of the devil,
who cripple the common good of the Christian congregation
and the reform of Holy Church, self-lovers, who seek only
their own private good. But you can soon discover, father,
whether it came from that just man or not. And it seems to
me that, for the honour of God, you must investigate.

So far as I can understand, I do not think the man a
servant of God, and his language does not so present him —
but the letter seems to me a forgery. Nor does he who
wrote it understand his trade very well. He ought to put
himself to school — he seems to have known less than a small
child.

Notice, now, most Holy Father : he has made his first appeal
to the tendency that he knows to be the chief frailty in man,
and especially in those who are very tender and pitiful in their
natural affections, and tender to their own bodies — for such
men as these hold life dearer than any others. So he fastened
on this point from his first word. But I hope, by the good-
ness of God, that you will pay more heed to His honour
and the safety of your own flock than to yourself, like a
good shepherd, who ought to lay down his life for his
sheep.

Next, this poisonous man seems on the one hand to com-
mend your return to Rome, calling it a good and holy thing ;
but, on the other hand, he says that poison is prepared for you
there ; and he seems to advise you to send trustworthy men
to precede you, who will find the poison on the tables — that
is, apparently, in bottles, ready to be administered by degrees,
either by the day, or the month, or the year. Now I quite
agree with him that poison can be found — for that matter, as

TO GREGORY XI 183

well on the tables of Avignon or other cities as on those of
Rome : and prepared for administration slowly, by the month,
or the year, or in large quantities, as may please the purchaser :
it can be found everywhere. So he would think it well for
you to send, and delay your return for this purpose ; he
proposes that you wait till divine judgment fall by this means
on those wicked men who, it would seem, according to what
he says, are seeking your death. But were he wise, he would
expect that judgment to fall on himself, for he is sowing the
worst poison that has been sown for a long time in Holy
Church, inasmuch as he wants to hinder you from following
God's call and doing your duty. Do you know how that
poison would be sown ? If you did not go, but sent, as the
good man advises you, scandal and rebellion, spiritual and
temporal, would be stirred up — men finding a lie in you, who
hold the Seat ,of Truth. For since you have decided on
your return and announced it, the scandal and bewilderment
and disturbance in men's hearts would be too great if they
found that it did not happen. Assuredly he says the truth :
he is as prophetic as Caiphas when he said : "It is necessary
for one man to die that the people perish not." He did not1
know what he was saying, but the Holy Spirit, who spoke
the truth by his mouth, knew very well — though the devil
did not make him speak with this intention. So this man
is likely to be another Caiphas. He prophesies that if you
send, men will find poison. Truly so it is ; for were your
sins so great that you stayed and they went, your confidants
will find poison bottled in their hearts and mouths, as was said.
And not only enough for one day, but it would last the
month and the year before it was digested. Much I marvel
at the words of this man, who commends an act as good and
holy and religious, and then wants this holy act to be given
up from bodily fear ! It is not the habit of the servants of
God ever to be willing to give up a spiritual act or work

1 84 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

on account of bodily or temporal harm, even should life itself
be spent : for had they done thus, none of them would have
reached his goal. For the perseverance of holy and good
desire into good works, is the thing which is crowned, and
which merits glory and not confusion.

Therefore I said to you, Reverend Father, that I desired to
see you firm and stable in your good resolution (since on this
will follow the pacification of your rebellious sons and the
reform of Holy Church) and also to see you fulfil the desire
felt by the servants of God, to behold you raise the standard
of the most holy Cross against the infidels. Then can you
minister the Blood of the Lamb to those wretched infidels :
for you are cupbearer of that Blood, and hold the keys of it.

Alas, father, I beg you, by the love of Christ crucified,
that you turn your power to this swiftly, since without your
power it cannot be done. Yet I do not advise you, sweet
father, to abandon those who are your natural sons, who feed
at the breasts of the Bride of Christ, for bastard sons who are
not yet made lawful by holy baptism. But I hope, by the
goodness of God, that if your legitimate sons walk with your
authority, and with the divine power of the sword of holy
Writ, and with human force and virtue, these others will turn
to Holy Church the Mother, and you will legalize them. It
seems as if this would be honour to God, profit to yourself,
honour and exaltation to the sweet Bride of Christ Jesus,
rather than to follow the foolish advice of this just man,
who propounds that it would be better for you and. for other
ministers of the Church of God to live among faithless
Saracens than among the people of Rome and Italy.

I am pleased by the commendable hunger that he has for
the salvation of the infidels, but I am not pleased that he
wishes to take the father from his lawful sons, and the shep-
herd from the sheep gathered in the fold. I think he wants
to treat you as the mother treats the child when she wants to

TO GREGORY XI 185

wean him : she puts something bitter on her bosom, that he
may taste the bitterness before the milk, so that he may-
abandon the sweet through fear of the bitter ; because a child
is more easily deluded by bitterness than by anything else.
So this man wants to do to you, suggesting to you the bitter-
ness of poison and of great persecution, to delude the childish-
ness of your weak sensuous love, that you may leave the
milk through fear : the milk of grace, which follows on your
sweet return. And I beg of you, on behalf of Christ
crucified, that you be not a timorous child, but manly. Open
your mouth, and swallow down the bitter for the sweet. It
would not befit your holiness to abandon the milk for the
bitterness. I hope by the infinite and inestimable goodness of
God, that if you choose He will show favour to both us and
to you ; and that you will be a firm and stable man, unmoved
by any wind or illusion of the devil, or counsel of devil in-
carnate, but following the will of God and your good desire,
and the counsel of the servants of Jesus Christ crucified.

I say no more. I conclude that the letter sent to you does
not come from that servant of God named to you, and that it was
not written very far away ; but I believe that it comes from
very near, and from the servants of the devil, who have little
fear of God. For in so far as I might believe that it came
from that man, I should not hold him a servant of God unless
I saw some other proof. Pardon me, father, my over-pre-
sumptuous speech. Humbly I ask you to pardon me and give
me your benediction. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of
God. I pray His infinite Goodness to grant me the favour soon,
for His honour, to see you put your feet beyond the threshold
in peace, repose, and quiet of soul and body. I beg you,
sweet father, to grant me audience when it shall please your
Holiness, for I would find myself in your presence before I
depart. The time is short : therefore, wherever it may please
you, I wish that it might be soon. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO MONNA LAPA HER MOTHER
BEFORE SHE RETURNED FROM AVIGNON

Catherine succeeded in her great aim. In September, 1376*
Gregory actually started for Rome. Her mission being ended,
Catherine set forth on her homeward journey on the same day
as the Pope, though by a different route. But her progress
was interrupted at Genoa, where, owing to illness among her
companions, she was detained for a month in the house of
Madonna Orietta Scotta. Her prolonged absence seems to
have been too much for the patience of Monna Lapa, who
was always unable to understand in the least the actions of
her puzzling though beloved child. Catherine, though lifted
into the region of great anxieties and great triumphs, was yet
always tenderly mindful of the claims of home. Very
daughterly, very gently wise, is this little letter to the lonely
and fretful mother, written when the saint had just passed
through those exciting and decisive months at the Papal
court.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest mother in Christ sweet Jesus : Your poor, un-
worthy daughter Catherine comforts you in the precious
Blood of the Son of God. With desire have I desired to see
you a true mother, not only of my body but of my soul ; for
I have reflected that if you are more the lover of my soul
than of my body, all disordinate tenderness will die in you,
and it will not be such a burden to you to long for my bodily
presence ; but it will rather be a consolation to you, and you
will wish, for the honour of God, to endure every burden for

186

TO MONNA LAPA HER MOTHER 187

me, provided that the honour of God be wrought. Working
for the honour of God, I am not without the increase of
grace and power in my soul. Yes, indeed, it is true that if
you, sweetest mother, love my soul better than my body, you
will be consoled and not disconsolate. I want you to learn
from that sweet mother, Mary, who, for the honour of God
and for our salvation, gave us her Son, dead upon the wood
of the most holy Cross. And when Mary was left alone,
after Christ had ascended into Heaven, she stayed with the
holy disciples ; and although Mary and the disciples had
great consolation together, and to separate was sorrow, never-
theless, for the glory and praise of her Son, for the good of
the whole universal world, she consented and chose that they
should go away. And she chose the burden of their departure
rather than the consolation of their remaining, solely through
the love that she had for the honour of God and for our
salvation. Now, I want you to learn from her, dearest mother.
You know that it behoves me to follow the will of God ;
and I know that you wish me to follow it. His will was that
I should go away ; which going did not happen without
mystery, nor without fruit of great value. It was His will*
that I should come, and not the will of man 5 and whoever
might say the opposite, it is not the truth. And thus it will
behove me to go on, following His footsteps in what way and
at what time shall please His inestimable goodness. You,
like a good, sweet mother, must be content, and not disconso-
late, enduring every burden for the honour of God, and for
your and my salvation. Remember that you did this for the
sake of temporal goods, when your sons left you to gain
temporal wealth ; now, to gain eternal life, it seems to you
such an affliction that you say that you will go and run away
if I do not reply to you soon. All this happens to you because
you love better that part which I derived from you— that is,
your flesh, with which you clothed me — than what I have

188 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

derived from God. Lift up, lift up your heart and mind
a little to that sweet and holiest Cross where all affliction
ceases ; be willing to bear a little finite pain, to escape the
infinite pain which we merit for our sins. Now, comfort you,
for the love of Christ crucified, and do not think that you are
abandoned either by God or by me. Yet shall you be com-
forted, and receive full consolation ; and the pain has not been
so great that the joy shall not be greater. We shall come
soon, by the mercy of God ; and we should not have delayed
our coming now, were it not for the obstacle we have had
in the serious illness of Neri. Also Master Giovanni and Fra
Bartolommeo have been ill. , - , I say no more. Commend
us. , * . Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love !

TO MONNA GIOVANNA
DI CORRADO MACONI

Monna Lapa was evidently not the only mother in Siena who
fretted over the long absence from home of Catherine and
her spiritual children. Monna Giovanna, of the noble family
of the Maconi, longed for the presence of Catherine's secre-
tary, her beloved son Stefano. This is the second letter which
Catherine wrote in the effort to reconcile her. "We cannot be
surprised if she murmured. Stefano had known Catherine for
a few months only when she bore him off with her to Avignon.
Their relations dated from January, 1376, when at his entreaty
she healed a feud of long standing between the Maconi and
the rival house of the Tolomei. From this time he attached
himself to her person, and his devotion to her made him an
object of ridicule to his bewildered former friends. He was,
by all accounts, a singularly attractive and lovable young
man — sunny, light-hearted, and popular wherever he went.
Catherine from the first loved him, as she avows in this letter,
with especial tenderness. She made him her trusted intimate,
and from now until shortly before her death he was in almost
constant attendance upon her, or when away was still occupied
in her affairs. Catherine was evidently on intimate and
affectionate terms with the rest of the Maconi family also;
but it is not strange if Monna Giovanna developed a little
motherly jealousy, as she saw her brilliant son not only
absorbed by this new friendship, but borne away to distant
lands. Catherine's letter is as applicable to-day as then, to all
parents whose misguided tenderness would seek to hinder their
children in a high vocation.

189

i9o LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

To you, dearest sister and daughter in Christ Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write in His precious Blood, with desire to see you clothed in
the wedding garment. For I consider that without this gar-
ment the soul cannot please its Creator, nor take its place at
the Marriage Feast in the enduring life. I wish you, there-
fore, to be clothed in it ; and in order that you may clothe
you the better, I wish you to divest yourself of all self-love
according to nature and the senses, which you feel for your-
self, your children, and any other created thing. You ought
to love neither yourself nor anything else apart from God ; for
it is impossible that a man can serve two masters ; if he serve
the one, he does not give satisfaction to the other. And there
is no one who can serve both God and the world, for they
have no harmony with each other. The world seeks honour,
rank, wealth, sons in high place, good birth, sensuous pleasure
and indulgence, all rooted in perverted pride ; but God seeks
and wants exactly the opposite. He wants voluntary poverty,
a humbled heart, disparagement of self and of every worldly
joy and grace ; that personal honour be not sought, but the
honour of God and the salvation of one's neighbour. Let a man
seek only in what way he may clothe him in the fire of most
ardent charity with the ornament of sweet and sincere virtue,
with true and holy patience ; let him take no revenge on
another for any injury his neighbour may show him, but endure
all in patience, seeking only to pass sentence on himself,
because he sees that he has wronged the Sweet Primal Truth.
And what he loves, let him love in God, and apart from God
love nothing.

And did you say to me, " In what way should I love ? " I

TO MONNA GIOVANNA DI CORRADO MACONI 191

answer you that children and everything else should be loved
for love of Him who created them, and not for love of one's self
or the children ; and that God should never be wronged for
their sake or any other. That is, do not love through regard
to any utility, nor as your own thing, but as a thing lent to
you : since whatever is given us in this life is given for use,
as a loan, and is left to us so long only as pleases the Divine
Goodness which gave it us. You should use everything, then,
as a steward of Christ crucified, spending your temporal
substance so far as is possible to you for the poor, who stand in
the place of God ; and so you ought to spend your children,
nourishing and educating them ever in the fear of God, and
wishing that they should die rather than wrong their Creator.
Oh, make a sacrifice of yourself and them to God ! And if you
see that God is calling them, offer no resistance to His sweet
will : but if they welcome it with one hand, do you reach out
both like a true loving mother, who loves their salvation ; do
not desire to shape their lives to suit yourself — for this would
be a sign that ycu loved them apart from God — but with any
state to which God calls them, with that be you content. For
a mother who loves her children according to the wickedness
of the world, says many a time : " It pleases me well that my
children should please God ; they can serve Him in the world
as well as anywhere else." But it happens often to these
simple mothers, who want to plunge their children in the
world, that later they possess those children neither in the
world nor in God. And it is a just thing that they should be
deprived of them, spirit and body, since such ignorance and
pride reigns in them that they want to lay down law and rule
to the Holy Spirit, who is calling them. Such people do not
love their children in God, but with sensuous self-love apart
from God, for they love their bodies more than their souls.
Never, dearest sister and daughter in Christ sweet Jesus, could
he clothe himself in Christ crucified who had not first divested

192 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

him of this. I hope by the goodness of God that all this will
not apply to you, but that you will give yourself and them to
the honour and glory of the Name of God, like a true good
mother, and so shall you be clothed in the Wedding Garment.
But in order that you may clothe you the better, I want that
you should lift your desire and heart above the world and all
its doings, and that you should open the eye of the mind to
know what love God bears to you, who has given you, for
love, the Word, His Only-Begotten Son ; and the Son in
burning love has given you life, and has sacrificed His Body
that He might cleanse us with His Blood. Ignorant are we
and wretched who nor know nor love so great a benefit !
But all this is because our eyes are closed j for were they
open, and had they fastened themselves on Christ crucified,
they would not be ignorant nor ungrateful in presence of so
great grace. Therefore I say to you, keep your eyes ever
open, and fasten them fixedly on the Lamb that was slain, in
order that you may never fall into ignorance.

Up, sweetest daughter, let us delay no more ! Let us
recover the time we have lost, with true and perfect love ; so
that, clothing ourselves in this life with the garment I spoke
of, we may joy and exult at the Marriage Feast in the
enduring life — you and your husband and your children to-
gether. And comfort you sweetly, and be patient, and do not
grow disturbed because I have kept Stefano so long : for
I have taken good care of him, for by love and tenderness I
have become one thing with him, therefore I have treated
your things as if they were my own. I think you have
not taken this in bad part. I wish to do whatever I can
for him and for you, even to death. You, mother, bore him
once j and I wish to bear him and you and all your family, in
tears and sweats, by continual prayers and desire for your
salvation.

I say no more. Commend me to Currado, and bless all the

TO MONNA GIOVANNA DI CORRADO MACONI 193

rest of the family, and especially my little new plant, that has
just been planted anew in the Garden of Holy Church. Be
it commended to you, and do you bring it up for me virtuously,
so that it may shed fragrance among the other flowers. God
fill you with His most sweet favour. Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO MESSER RISTORO CANIGIANI

Apart from her relations with Religious seeking to follow
the Counsels, Catherine directed the life of a number of devout
laymen. Among these was Ristoro Canigiani, an honourable
citizen of Florence, whose younger brother, Barduccio, be-
came one of her secretaries, and was with her at her death.
In the first letter to Ristoro here given, we see that he
had already become Catherine's disciple. He had evinced his
sincerity by forgiving his enemies — a feat more practical
and difficult for most men in those days than now — by with-
drawing in a measure from society — (ecclesiastical, one notes,
as well as secular)— and by embracing the simple life, selling
his superfluous possessions. In the second letter given, he
has evidently advanced in experience. Like many religious
souls since his day, he suffers from scruples lest he be un-
worthy to receive the Holy Communion. Catherine handles
his difficulties tenderly and wisely, in words which all anxious
souls would do well to take to heart. She has no reproofs
for this excellent man, only applause and encouragement. It
is noteworthy that neither in these letters nor in any others
does she seek to induct Ristoro into that region of ecstatic
mystery where she herself lived, and whither she was wont
to expect — often in vain — certain of her friends to follow her.
The standard which she sets for this devout layman could not
be better summed up than in the familiar words : " A sober,
godly, and righteous life."

In other letters to Ristoro she seeks to inspire him with
a fervour of charity by very beautiful meditations, in which
she presents the love of friends and family as sanctified and

194

TO MESSER RISTORO CANIGIANI 195

glorified by its relation to the all-enfolding Love from which
all pure human affection must proceed. In her attitude
toward the natural world and its claims, Catherine again
recalls St. Bernard, who, in naming the degrees of love, starts
from an hypothesis which sets forth natural things, not as evil
and destroying, but good, and waiting their transfiguration.
Like poor Francesca, but with a conception more pure,
Catherine rings the changes on the words " amore," " amare."
" Perocche, condizione e del' amore d' amare quando si sente
amare, d' amare tutte le cose che ama colui ch' egli ama. E
pero, a mano che 1' anima ha conosciuto 1' amore del suo
Creatore verso di lui, 1' ama : e amandolo, ama tutte quelle cose
che Dio ama." " For it is of the nature of love, to love when
it feels itself loved, and to love all things loved of its beloved
So when the soul has by degrees known the love of its Creator
toward it, it loves Him, and, loving Him, loves all things
whatsoever that God. loves." . . . As we read, we recognize
once more how far is this great Mystic from the cold asceticism
that has sometimes been attributed to her.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest brother in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood, with desire to see you constant and persevering
in virtue ; for it is not he who begins who is crowned, but
only he who perseveres. For Perseverance is the Queen who
is crowned ; she stands between Fortitude and true Patience,
but she alone receives a crown of glory. So I want you,
dearest brother, to be constant and persevering in virtue, that
you may receive the reward of your every labour. I hope in
the great goodness of God that He will fortify you in such
wise that neither demon nor fellow-creature can make you
look back to your vomit.

196 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

You seem, according to what you write me, to have made
a good beginning, in which I rejoice greatly for your salvation,
seeing your holy desire. First, you say that you have forgiven
every man who had wronged you or wished to wrong you.
This is a thing which is very necessary, if you wish to have
God in your soul through grace, and to be at rest even
according to the world. For he who abides in hate is
deprived of God and is in a state of condemnation, and has
in this life the foretaste of hell ; for he is always gnawing
at himself, and hungers for vengeance, and abides in fear.
Believing to slay his enemy, he has first killed himself, for he
has slain his soul with the knife of hate. Such men as these,
who think to slay their enemy, slay themselves. He who
truly forgives through the love of Christ crucified, has peace
and quiet, and suffers no perturbation ; for the wrath that
perturbs is slain in his soul, and God the Rewarder of every
good gives him His grace and at the last eternal life. What
joy the soul, then, receives, and gladness and rest in its
conscience, the tongue could never tell. And even according
to the world, very great honour is given to the man who
through love of virtue and magnanimity does not greedily
desire to wreak vengeance on his enemy. So I summon you
and comfort you, to persevere in this holy resolution.

To demand and obtain your own in a reasonable way, this
you can do with good conscience ; whoever wants to can do
it : for a man is not bound to abandon his possessions more
than he chooses j but he who would choose to abandon them
would reach a much greater perfection. It is well and
excellent not to go to the Bishop's house nor to the palace,
but to stay peaceably at home. For if other people get
excited, we are weak, and often we find our own soul excited,
and doing unjust and irrational things, one to show that he
knows more than another, and one from appetite for money.
Yes, it is better to keep away from the place.

TO MESSER RISTORO CANIGIANI 197

But I add one thing : that when such poor men and women
as are clearly in the right, and have no one to help them,
show us the reason why they have no money, it would be
greatly to the honour of God for you to undertake their cause,
from the impulse of charity, like St. Ives, who in his time
was the lawyer of the poor. Consider that the deed of
pity, and ministering to the poor with those faculties which
God has given you, is very pleasing to God, and salvation to
your soul. Therefore St. Gregory says that it is impossible
that a pitiful man should perish with an evil, that is, an eternal
death. This, then, pleases me much, and I beg you to do it.

In all your works put God before your eyes, saying to
yourself when intemperate appetite would lift its head against
the resolution you have made : " Consider, my soul, that the
eye of God is upon thee, and sees the secret of thy heart.
Thou art mortal, for thou must die, and knowest not when ;
and it shall befit thee to render account before the highest
Judge of what thou shalt do — a Judge who punishes every
fault and rewards every good deed." In this wise, if you put
on the bit it will not slip off, separating from the will of God.

You ought to give satisfaction to your soul as soon as you
can, and unburden your conscience of what you feel it
burdened with. Give it satisfaction, either for the trouble
it has felt in giving up temporal possessions, or for the other
annoyances that others have given it. And have pardon asked
fully from everyone, in order that you may always remain in
the joy of charity with your neighbour. As for selling the
goods which you have over and above, and the showy
garments (which are very harmful, dearest brother, and a
means of penetrating the heart with vanity, and nourishing
it with pride, since they make a man seem to be more and
bigger than others, boasting of what one ought not to boast
of; so it is great shame to us, false Christians, to see our
Head tormented, and to abide ourselves in such luxuries : so

198 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

St. Bernard says, that it is not fitting for limbs to be delicate
beneath a thorn-crowned Head), — I say that you do very well
to find a remedy for this. But clothe you as you need,
modestly, at no immoderate price, and you will greatly please
God. And, so far as you can, make your wife and your sons
do the same ; so that you may be to them example and teacher,
as the father should be, who should educate his sons with the
words and deeds of virtue.

I add one thing ; that you abide in the state of marriage,
with fear of God, and treat it with reverence as a sacrament,
and not with intemperate desire. Hold in due reverence the
days ordered by Holy Church, like a reasonable man, and not
a brute beast. Then from yourself and her, like good trees,
you will bring forth good fruits.

You will do very well to refuse offices ; for a man seldom
fails to give offence in them. It ought to weary you simply
to hear them mentioned. Let the dead, then, bury themselves,
and do you exert yourself, in liberty of heart, to please God,
loving Him above everything in the desire of virtue, and your
neighbour as yourself, fleeing the world and its delights.
Renounce your sins and your own fleshly instincts, ever
bringing back to memory the favours of God, and especially
the favour of the Blood, shed for us with such fire of love.

Again, it is needful for you, if you wish your soul to
preserve grace and grow in virtue, to make your holy con-
fession often for your joy, that you may wash your soul's face
in the Blood of Christ. At least once a month, since indeed
we soil it every day. If more, more ; but less it seems to
me ought not to be done. And rejoice in hearing the Word
of God. And when the season shall come that we are
reconciled with our Father, do you communicate on the
solemn Feasts, or at least once a year ; rejoicing in the Office,
and hearing Mass every day ; and if you cannot every day, at
least you must make an effort, just as far as you can, on the

TO MESSER RISTORO CANIGIANI 199

days which are ordered by Holy Church, to which we are
bound.

Prayer must not be far from you. Nay, on the due and
ordered hours, so far as you can, seek to withdraw a little, to
know yourself, and the wrongs done to God, and the largess
of His goodness, which has worked and is working so
sweetly in you ; opening the eye of your mind in the light
of most holy faith, to behold how beyond measure God loves
us ; love which He shows us through the means of His only-
begotten Son. And I beg that, if you are not saying it already,
you should say every day the office of the Virgin, that she
may be your refreshment and your advocate before God. As
to ordering your life, I beg you to do it. Fast on Saturday,
in reverence for Mary. And never give up the days com-
manded by Holy Church, unless of necessity. Avoid being
at intemperate banquets, but live moderately, like a man who
does not want to make a god of his belly. But take food
for need, and not for the wretched pleasure it gives. For it
is impossible that any man who does not govern himself in
eating should keep himself innocent.

But I am sure that the infinite goodness of God, as regards
this and all the rest, wili make you yourself adopt that rule
which will be needful for your salvation. And I will pray,
and will make others pray, that He grant you perfect perse-
verance until death, and illumine you concerning that which
you have to do for your salvation. I say no more to you.
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus • I Catherine, servant and
slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His

200 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

precious Blood : with desire to see you free from every
particle of self-love, so that you may not lose the light and
knowledge which come from seeing the unspeakable love
which God has for you. And because it is light which makes
us know this, and false love is what takes light from us, there-
fore I have very great desire to see it quenched in you. Oh,
how dangerous this self-love is to our salvation S It deprives
the soul of grace, for it takes from it the love of God and of
its neighbour, which makes us live in grace. It deprives us of
light, as we said, because it darkens the eye of the mind, and
when the light is taken away we walk in darkness, and do not
know what we need.

What do we need to know ? The great goodness of God,
and His unspeakable love toward us ; the perverse law which
always fights against the Spirit, and our own wretchedness.
In this knowledge the soul begins to render His due to God ;
that is, glory and praise to His Name, loving Him above every-
thing, and the neighbour as one's self, with eager desire for
virtue; and the soul bestows hate and displeasure on itself, hating
in itself vice, and its own sensuousness, which is the cause of
every vice. The soul wins all virtue and grace in the know-
ledge of itself, abiding therein with light, as was said. Where
shall the soul find the wealth of contrition for its sins, and the
abundance of God's mercy ? In this House of Self-Knowledge.

Now let us see whether we find it in ourselves or not. Let
us talk somewhat about it. For, as you wrote me, you have
a desire to feel contrition for your sins, and not being able to
feel it, you give up for this reason Holy Communion. Now
we shall see whether you ought to give it up for this.

You know that God is supremely good, and loved us before
we were : and is Eternal Wisdom, and His Power in virtue is
immeasurable : so for this reason we are sure that He has
power, knowledge, and will to give us what we need. Well
we see, in proof, that He gives us more than we know how to

TO MESSER RISTORO CANIGIANI 201 n

ask, and that which was not asked by us. Did we ever ask
Him that He should create us reasonable creatures, in His own
image and likeness, rather than brute beasts ? No. Or that
He should create us by Grace by the Blood of the Word,
His only-begotten Son, or that He should give us Himself for
food, perfect God and perfect Man, flesh and blood, body and
soul, united to Deity ? Beyond these most high gifts, which
are so great, and show such fire of love toward us, that there
is no heart so hard that its hardness and coldness would not
melt by considering them at all : infinite are the gifts and graces
which we receive from Him without asking.

Then, since He gives so much without our asking — how
much the more will He fulfil our desires when we shall desire
a just thing of Him ? Nay, who makes us desire and ask it ?
Only He. Then, if He makes us ask it, it is a sign that He
means to fulfil it, and give us what we seek.

But you will say to me : "I confess that He is what thou
sayest. But how comes it that many a time I ask, both con-
trition and other things, and they seem not to be given me ? "
I answer you : It may be it is through a defect in him who
asks, asking imprudently, with words alone and not with his ,
whole heart — and of such as these Our Saviour said that they
call Him Lord, Lord, but shall not be known of Him — not that
He does not know them, but for their fault they shall not be
known of His mercy. Or, the man who prays asks for some-
thing which, if he had it, would be injurious to his salvation.
So that, when he does not have what he asks, he really has it,
because he asks for it thinking that it would be for his good ;
but if he had it, it would be to his harm, and it is for his good
not to have it ; so God has satisfied the intention with which
he asked it. So that on God's side we always have our prayer ;
but this is the case, that God knows the secret and the open,
and is aware of our imperfection j so He sees that if He gave
us the grace at once as we ask it, we should do like an unclean

202 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

creature, who, rising from the sweetest honey, does not mind
afterwards lighting on a fetid object. God sees that we do so
many a time. For, receiving His graces and benefits, sharing
the sweetness of His charity, we do not mind afterward alight-
ing on miserable things, turning back to the filth of the world.
Therefore, God sometimes does not give us what we ask as
soon as we should like, to make us increase in the hunger of
our desire, because He rejoices and pleases Himself in seeing
the hunger of His creatures toward Him.

Sometimes He will do us the grace by giving it to us in
effect though not in feeling. He uses this means with fore-
sight, because He knows that if a man felt himself to possess
it, either he would slacken the pull of desire, or would fall
into presumption ; therefore He withdraws the feeling, but not
the grace. There are others who both receive and feel, accord-
ing as it pleases the sweet goodness of our Physician to give
to us sick folk ; and He gives to everyone in the way that our
sickness needs. You see, then, that in any case the yearning
of the creature, with which it asks of God, is always ful-
filled. Now we see what we ought to seek, and how prudently.

It seems to me that the Sweet Primal Truth teaches us what
we ought to seek when in the holy Gospel, reproving man for
the intemperate zeal which he bestows on gaining and holding
the honours and riches of the world, He said : " Take no
thought for the morrow. Its own care suffices for the day."
Here He shows us that we should consider prudently the
shortness of time. Then He adds : " Seek first the Kingdom
of Heaven ; for your heavenly Father knows well that you have
need of these lesser things." What is this kingdom, and how
is it sought ? It is the kingdom of eternal life, and the king-
dom of our own soul, for this kingdom of the soul, unless it
is possessed through reason, never becomes part of the king-
dom of God. With what is it sought ? Not only with
words — we have already said that such as these are not recog-

TO MESSER RISTORO CANIGIANI 203

nized by God — but with the yearning of true and real virtues.
Virtue is what seeks and possesses this kingdom of heaven;
virtue, which makes a man prudent, so that he works for the
honour of God and the salvation of himself and his neighbour,
with prudence and maturity. Prudently he endures his neigh-
bour's faults ; prudently he rules the impulse of charity, loving
God above everything, and his neighbour as himself. This is
the rule : that he hold him ready to give bodily life for the
salvation of souls, and temporal goods to help the body of his
neighbour. Such a rule is set by prudent charity. Were he
imprudent, it would be just the opposite as with many who
use a foolish and crazy sort of charity, who many a time, to
help their neighbour — I speak not of his soul, but of his body
— are ready to betray their own souls, by publishing abroad
lies, giving false witness. Such men as these lose charity,
because it is not built upon prudence.

"We have seen that. we must seek the kingdom of Heaven
prudently : now I artswer you about the attitude we should
hold toward the Holy Communion, and how it befits us to
take it. We should not use a foolish humility, as do secular
men of the world. I say, it befits us to receive that sweet
Sacrament, because it is the food of souls without which we
cannot live in grace. Therefore no bond is so great that it
cannot and must not be broken, that we may come to this
sweet Sacrament. A man must do on his part as much as
he can, and that is enough. How ought we to receive it?
With the light of most holy faith, and with the mouth of holy
desire. In the light of faith you shall contemplate all God and
all Man in that Host. Then the impulse that follows the
intellectual perception, receives with tender love and holy
meditation on its sins and faults, whence it arrives at con-
trition, and considers the generosity of the immeasurable love
of God, who in so great love has given Himself for our food.
Because one does not seem to have that perfect contrition and

204 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

disposition which he himself would wish, he must not there-
fore turn away ; for goodwill alone is sufficient, and the
disposition which on his part exists.

Again I say, that it befits us to receive as was imaged in
the Old Testament, when it was commanded that the Lamb
should be eaten roasted and not seethed ; whole and not in
part ; girded and standing, staff in hand ; and the blood of
the Lamb should be placed on the stone of the threshold.
Thus it befits us to receive this Sacrament : to eat it roasted,
and not seethed ; for were it seethed there would be inter-
posed earth and water — that is, earthly affections and the water
of self-love. Therefore it must be roasted, so that there
shall be nothing between. We take it so when we receive
it straight from the fire of divine charity. And we ought to
be girt with the girdle of conscience, for it would be very
shocking that one should advance to so great cleanliness and
purity with mind or body unclean. We ought to stand
upright, that is, our heart and mind should be wholly faithful
and turned toward God ; with the staff of the most holy
Cross, where we find the teaching of Christ crucified. This
is the staff on which we lean, which defends us from our foes,
the world, the devil, and the flesh. And it befits us eat it
whole and not in part : that is, in the light of faith, we
should contemplate not only the Humanity in this sacrament,
but the body and soul of Christ crucified, wrought into unity
with Deity, all God and all Man. We must take the Blood
of this Lamb and put it upon our forehead — that is, confess it
to every rational being, and never deny it, for pain or for
death. Thus sweetly it befits us to receive this Lamb, pre-
pared in the fire of charity upon the wood of the Cross.
Thus we shall be found signed with the seal of Tau, and
shall never be struck by the avenging angel.

I said that it did not befit us, nor do I wish you, to do as
many imprudent laymen, who pass over what is commanded

TO MESSER RISTORO CANIGIANI 205

tnem by Holy Church, saying : "I am not worthy of it."
Thus they spend a long time in mortal sin without the food
of their souls. Oh, foolish humility ! Who does not see
that thou art not worthy ? At what time dost thou await
worthiness ? Do not await it ; for thou wilt be just as
worthy at the end as at the beginning. For with all our just
deeds, we shall never be worthy of it. But God is He who
is worthy, and makes us worthy with His worth. His worth
grows never less. What ought we to do ? Make us ready
on our part, and observe His sweet commandment, For did
we not do so, giving up communion, in such wise believing
to flee from fault, we should fall into fault.

Therefore I conclude, and will that such folly be not in
you ; but that you make you ready, as a faithful Christian,
to receive this Holy Communion as I said. You will do it
just as perfectly as you are in true knowledge of yourself;
not otherwise. For if you abide in that knowledge, you will
see everything clearly. Do not slacken your holy desire, for
pain or loss, or injury or ingratitude of those whom you have
served ; but manfully, with true and long perseverance you
shall persevere till death. Thus I beg you to do by the love
of Christ crucified. I say no more. Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO THE ANZIANI AND CONSULS
AND GONFALONIERI OF BOLOGNA

Catherine lays down admirable political principles, for the
fourteenth or for the twentieth century. Yet times have
changed, and we can hardly imagine a modern city council
giving serious welcome to such a letter as this. It is a fair
specimen of the letters which she was in the habit of sending
to the governments of the Italian towns — direct, simple, high-
minded presentations of the fundamental virtues on which the
true prosperity of a State must rest. She was capable, as she
showed during the Schism, of detailed political sagacity : but
she never lost the womanly conviction that moral generaliza-
tions would convict men of sin and point them to the path of
holiness. Nor was she wholly wrong. Her letters seem to
have been received with respect, and not to have failed in
effectiveness. On the present occasion, the authorities of
Bologna have evidently sent asking her prayers. These she
promises gladly, but adds that the Bolognese must not expect
" the servants of God" to do all their work for them.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest brothers in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you divested of the old
man and clothed with the new — divested, that is, of the
world and the fleshly self-love which is the old sin of Adam,
and clothed with the new Christ sweet Jesus, and His tender
charity. When this charity is in the soul, it seeks not its own,

206

THE ANZIANI AND CONSULS OF BOLOGNA 207

but is liberal and generous to render His due to God : to love
Him above everything else, and to hate its own lower nature ;
and to love itself for God, rendering praise and glory to His
Name : to render its neighbour benevolence, with fraternal
charity and well-ordered love. For charity ought to be
regulated : that is, a man must not wrong himself by sinning,
in order to rescue one soul — nay more, in order, were it
possible, to save the whole world ; since it is not lawful to
commit the least fault to achieve a great virtue. And our
body should not be sacrificed to rescue the body of our
neighbour ; but we ought surely to sacrifice our bodily life for
the salvation of souls, and temporal possessions for the welfare
and life of our neighbour. So you see that this charity should
be and is regulated in the soul.

But those who are deprived of charity and full of self-love
do just the opposite ; and as they are extravagant in their
affections, so they are in all their works. Thus we see that
men of the world serve and love their neighbour without virtue,
and in sin ; and to serve and please them, they do not mind
disserving and displeasing God, and injuring their own souls.
This is that perverted love which often kills soul and body — '
robs us of light and casts us into darkness, robs us of life and
condemns us to death, deprives us of the conversation of the
Blessed and leads us to that of Hell. And if a man does not
correct himself while he has time, he destroys the shining
pearls of holy justice, and loses the warmth of true charity
and obedience.

Now on whatever side we turn, we see every kind of rational
creature lacking in all virtue, and arrayed in this evil fleshly
self-love. If we turn to the prelates, they devote themselves
so much to their own affairs and live so luxuriously, that they
do not seem to care when they see their subjects in the hands
of demons. As to the subjects, it is just the same, they do not
care to obey either the civil law or the divine, nor do they care

208 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

to serve one another unless for their own profit. And yet this
kind of love, and the union of those who are united by
natural love and not by true charity, does not suffice j such
friendship suffices and lasts only so long as pleasure and enjoy-
ment lasts, and the personal profit derived from it.

So, when a man is lord, he fails in holy justice. And this
is the reason : that he fears to lose his dignity, and, so as not
to excite annoyance, he goes about cloaking and hiding men's
faults, spreading ointment over a wound at the time when it
ought to be cauterized. Oh, miserable my soul ! When the
man ought to apply the flame of divine charity, and burn out
the fault with holy punishment and correction inflicted by
holy justice, he flatters and pretends that he does not see.
He behaves thus toward those who he sees might impair his
dignity ; but as to the poor, who count for little and whom he
does not fear, he shows very great zeal for justice, and with-
out any mercy or pity imposes most severe punishment for a
little fault. What causes such injustice? Self-love. But
the wretched men of the world, because they are deprived of
truth, do not recognize truth, either as regards their salvation
or as regards the true preservation of their lordship. For did
they know the truth, they would see that only living in the
fear of God preserves their state and the city in peace : they
would preserve holy justice, rendering his due to every sub-
ject, they would show mercy on whoso deserved mercy, not
by passionate impulse, but by regard for truth ; and justice
they would show on whoso deserved it, built upon mercy,
and not on passionate wrath. Nor would they judge by
hearsay, but by holy and true justice ; and they would heed
the common good, and not any private good, and would
appoint officials and those who are to rule the city, not by
party or prejudice, not for flatteries or bribery, but with
virtue and reason alone ; and they would choose men mature
and excellent, and not mere children — such as fear God and

THE ANZiANI AND CONSULS OF BOLOGNA 209

love the Commonwealth and not their own particular advantage.
Now in this way, their state and the city is preserved in peace
and unity. But unjust deeds, and living in cliques, and the
appointment to rule and government of men who do not
know how to rule themselves or their families — unjust and
violent, passionate lovers of themselves — these are the methods
that make them lose both the state of spiritual grace and their
temporal state. To such as these it may be said : " In vain
thou dost labour to guard thy city if God guard it not : if thou
fear not God, and hold Him not before thee in thy works."

So you see, dearest brothers and lords, that self-love ruins
the city of the soul, and ruins and overturns the cities of earth.
I will that you know that nothing has so divided the world
into every kind of people as self-love, from which injustice is
for ever born.

Apparently, dearest brothers, you have a desire to increase
and preserve the welfare of your city ; and this desire moved
you to write to me, poor wretch that I am, full of faults. I
heard and saw that letter with tender love, and with wish to
satisfy your desires, and to exert me, with what grace God
shall give me, to offer you and your city before God with
continual prayer. If you shall be just men, and carry on your
government as I said above, not in passion nor for self-love or
your private good, but for the universal good founded on the
Rock Christ sweet Jesus, and if you do all your works in His
fear, then by means of prayer you shall preserve the state, the
peace and unity of your city. Therefore I beg you by the
love of Christ crucified — for there is no other way — that
since you have the help of the prayers of the servants of
God, you should not fail on your side in what is needful.
For did you fail you might to be sure be helped a little by
the prayers, but not so much that it would not soon come
to nothing ; because you ought to help, on your part, to bear
this weight,
p

2io LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

So, considering that if you were clothed in fleshly and per-
sonal love, you could not help the servants of God, and that
he who does not help himself with virtue and holy zeal for
justice, cannot help his brothers' city, I say that it is needful
for you to be clothed with the New Man, Christ sweet Jesus,
and His immeasurable charity. But we cannot be clothed
therein unless first we divest us — nor could I divest me unless
I see how harmful it is to me to hold my old sin, and how
useful the new garment of divine charity. For when man has
seen his sin, he hates it, and strips it off; and loves, and in
love arrays him in the garment of virtue woven with the love
of the New Man. Now this is the Way. Therefore I said
to you that I desired to see you divested of the old man and
clothed with the New Man, Christ crucified ; and in this way
you shall win and keep the state of grace and the state of your
city, and you will never fail in the reverence due to Holy
Church, but with pleasing manner will render your due and
keep your state. I say no more. Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO NICHOLAS OF OSIMO

Ardour is the first trait which one feels in approaching the
character of Catherine ; but the second is fidelity. Neither the
one nor the other flagged till the hour of her death. In the grave
and tranquil words of this letter we can see, yet more clearly,
perhaps, than in the fervid utterances of hours of excitement
or crisis, how profound was her conception of the Church,
how fixed her resolution to sacrifice herself for " that sweet
Bride." Gregory has returned to Italy, and Catherine is
knowing a brief respite from public responsibilities in the
comparative retirement of Siena. But peace is not yet made
with Florence, nor is the reform of the Church even begun.
Her heart, however, refuses to harbour discouragement, and
seeking as ever to hold others to the same steady pitch of
faith and consecration which she herself maintained, she writes
to the secretary of the Pope. He appears to have been a
holy man who shared her aspirations, but he was evidently
disheartened by the apparent failure of his efforts and by
the necessary absorption in external things of a life dedicated
to public affairs. Catherine's keen analysis leaves Nicholas
of Osimo no excuse for indolence. Her letter, especially
in the earlier portion, reads like a paraphrase of Newman's
fine verses on " Sensitiveness " : —

" Time was, I shrank from what was right
For fear of what was wrong :
I would not mingle in the fight
Because the foe was strong :

" But now I cast that finer sense
And sorer shame aside :
Such dread of sin was indolence,
Such aim at heaven was pride.

211

212 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

" So, when my Saviour calls, I rise,
And calmly do my best,
Leaving to Him, with silent eyes
Of hope and fear, the rest.

" I step, I mount, where He has led j
Men count my haltings o'er j
I know them ; yet, though self I dread,
I love His precept more."

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest and most reverend father in Christ sweet Jesus :
I Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write to you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you
a firm pillar, that shall never move, except in God ; never
avoiding or refusing the toils and labours laid on you in
the mystical body of Holy Church, the sweet Bride of
Christ — neither for the ingratitude and ignorance you found
among those who feed in that garden, nor from the weariness
that might afflict us from seeing the affairs of the Church get
into a disorderly state. For it often happens that when a man
is spending all his efforts on something, and it does not
come about in the way or to the end that he wants, his
mind falls into weariness and sadness, as if he reflected and
said : " It is better for thee to give up this enterprise which
thou hast begun and worked on so long, and it is not yet
come to an end : and to seek peace and quiet in thy own
mind." Then the soul ought to reply boldly, hungering for
the honour of God and the salvation of souls, and decline
personal consolation, and say : "I will not avoid or flee from
labour, for I am not worthy of peace and quiet of mind. Nay,
I wish to remain in that state which I have chosen, and man-
fully to give honour to God with my labour, and my labour
to my neighbour." Yet sometimes the devil, to make our
enterprises weary us, when we feel little peace of mind, will

TO NICHOLAS OF OSIMO 213

make a suggestion to the man, saying in his thought : "lam
doing more harm in this thing than I am deserving good. So
I would gladly run away from it, not on account of the labour,
but because I do not want to do harm." Oh, dearest father,
do not yield either to yourself or the devil, nor believe him,
when he puts such thoughts into your heart and mind ; but
embrace your labour with gladness and ardent desire, and
without any servile fear.

And do not be afraid to do wrong in this j for wrong
is shown to us in a disordered and perverse will. For when
the will is not settled in God, then one does wrong. The
time of the soul is not lost because it may be deprived of
consolations, and of saying its office and many psalms, and
cannot say them at the right time or place, or with that peace
of mind which it would itself wish. Nay, it is occupied
wholly for God. So it ought not to feel pain in its mind —
especially when it is . labouring and working for the Bride
of Christ. For in whatever way or concerning whatever
matter we are labouring for her, it is so deserving and gives
such pleasure to God, that our intellect does not suffice to
see or imagine it.

I recall, dearest father, a servant of God to whom it was
shown how pleasing this service is to Him ; I tell this that you
may be encouraged to bear labours for Holy Church. This
servant of God, as I understood, having one time among
others an intense desire to shed her blood and her life and
annihilate her very consciousness for Holy Church, the Bride
of Christ, lifted the eye of her mind to know, that she had
no being in herself, and to know the goodness of God toward
her — that is, to see how God through love had given her being
and all gifts and graces that follow from being. So, seeing
and tasting such love and such depths of mercy, she saw
not how she could respond to God except by love. But
because she could be of no use to Him, she could not show

214 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

her love ; therefore she gave herself to considering whether
she found anyone to love through Him, by whom she might
show love. So she saw that God loved supremely His rational
creatures, and she found the same love to all that was given
to herself, for all are loved of God. This was the means she
found (which showed whether she loved God or not) by
which she could be of use. So then she rose ardently,
full of charity to her neighbours, and conceived such love
for their salvation that she would willingly have given
her life for it. So the service which she could not render
to God she desired to render to her neighbour. And when
she had realized that it befitted her to respond by means
of her neighbour, and thus to render Him love for love—
as God by means of the Word, His Son, has shown us
love and mercy — so, seeing that by means of desire for the
salvation of souls, giving honour to God and labour to one's
neighbour, God was well pleased — she looked then to see
in what garden and upon what table the neighbour might be
enjoyed.

Then Our Saviour showed her, saying : " Dearest daughter,
it befits thee to eat in the garden of my Bride, upon the table
of the most holy Cross, giving thy suffering, and crucified
desire, and vigils and prayers, and every activity that thou
canst, without negligence. Know that thou canst not have
desire for the salvation of souls without having it for Holy
Church ; for she is the universal body of all creatures who
share the light of holy faith, who can have no life if they are
not obedient to My Bride. Therefore, thou oughtest to desire
to see thy Christian neighbours, and the infidels and every
rational creature, feeding in this garden, under the yoke of
holy obedience, clothed in the light of living faith, and with
good and holy works — for faith without works is dead. This
is the common hunger and desire of that whole body. But
now I say and will that thou grow yet more in hunger and

TO NICHOLAS OF OSIMO 215

desire, and hold thee ready to lay down thy life, if need be,
in especial, in the mystical body of Holy Church, for the
reform of My Bride. For when she is reformed, the profit
of the whole world will follow. How ? Because through
darkness, and ignorance, and self-love, and impurities, and
swollen pride, darkness and death are born in the souls of
her subjects. So I summon thee and my other servants to
labour in desire, in vigils, and prayer, and every other work,
according to the skill which I give you ; for I tell thee that
the labour and service offered her are so pleasing to me, that
not only they shall be rewarded in My servants who have
a sincere and holy intention, but also in the servants of the
world, who often serve her through self-love, though also
many a time through reverence for Holy Church. Wherefore
I tell thee that there is no one who serves her reverently — so
good I hold this service — who shall not be rewarded ; and
I tell thee that such shall not see eternal death. So, likewise,
in those who wrong and serve ill and irreverently My Bride,
I shall not let that wrong go unpunished, by one way or
another."

Then, as she saw such greatness and generosity in the .
goodness of God, and perceived what ought to be done to
please Him more, the flame of desire so increased that had it
been possible for her to give her life for Holy Church a
thousand times a day, and from now till the final judgment
day, it seemed to her that it would be less than a drop of wine
in the sea. And so it really is.

I wish you, then, and summon you, to labour for her as you
have always done ; yea, you are a pillar, who have placed
yourself to support and help this Bride. So you ought to be,
as I said — so that neither tribulation nor consolation should
ever stir you. Nor because many contrary winds are blowing
to hinder those who walk in the way of truth, ought we for
any reason to look back. Therefore I said that I desired to

2i6 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

see you a firm pillar. Up, then, dearest and sweetest father :
because it is our hour to give for that Bride honour to God
and labour to her. I beg you, by the love of Christ crucified,
to pray the holy father that he adopt zealously, without negli-
gence, every remedy which can be found consistent to his
conscience for the reform of Holy Church and peace to this
great war which is damning so many souls, since for all
negligence and lukewarmness God will rebuke Him most
severely, and will demand the souls who through this are
perishing. Commend me to him ; and I ask him humbly for
his benediction. I say no more. Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO MISSER LORENZO DEL PINO

OF BOLOGNA, DOCTOR IN DECRETALS
(WRITTEN IN TRANCE)

The familiar but ever-noble theology with which this letter
opens, leads first to a severe description of the unworthy and
mercenary man, which is followed by a temperately wise
discussion of the true use of worldly pleasures and goods.
" Whatever God has made is good and perfect," says Catherine
— " except sin, which was not made by Him, and so is not
worthy of love." The modern religious Epicureanism which
would applaud this sentiment would, however, be less con-
tented with the sequel ; for Catherine never forgets the anti-
modern position that, though possession be legitimate to the
Christian, it is, after all, " more perfect to renounce than to
possess," and that the man who has preserved true detachment
of mind towards this world's goods will, by inevitable logic,
come to hunger, sooner or later, for detachment in deed.

It is a curiously tranquil letter to have been written in trance.
Whatever the mysterious condition may have been, it evidently
did not rob Catherine of her mental sanity and sobriety. The
Doctor of Laws to whom it was addressed was a person of
considerable importance in the public and legal life of his
time. One cannot help suspecting a personal bearing in the
severe description of the hard man — evidently a lawyer — who
makes the poor wait before giving them counsel : yet, perhaps,
the suspicion is unwarranted, and the letter carried to Misser
Lorenzo nothing more searching than a general account of
the temptations to which his profession was subject.

217

218 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest brother and son in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you
in His precious Blood : with desire to see you a lover and
follower of truth and a despiser of falsehood. But this
truth cannot be possessed or loved if it is not known. Who
is Truth ? God is the Highest and Eternal Truth. In whom
shall we know Him ? In Christ sweet Jesus, for He shows
us with His Blood the truth of the Eternal Father. His
truth toward us is this, that He created us in His image and
likeness to give us life eternal, that we might share and enjoy
His Good. But through man's sin this truth was not fulfilled
in him, and therefore God gave us the Word His Son, and
imposed this obedience on Him, that He should restore man to
grace through much endurance, purging the sin of man in His
own Person, and manifesting His truth in His Blood. So man
knows, by the unsearchable love which he finds shown to him
through the Blood of Christ crucified, that God nor seeks
nor wills aught but our sanctification. For this end we were
created -, and whatever God gives or permits to us in this life,
He gives that we may be sanctified in Him. He who knows
this truth never jars with it, but always follows and loves it,
walking in the footsteps of Christ crucified. And as this
sweet loving Word, for our example and teaching, despised
the world and all delights, and chose to endure hunger and
thirst, shame and reproach, even to the shameful death on the
Cross, for the honour of the Father and our salvation, so does
he who is the lover of the truth which he knows in the light
of most holy faith, follow this way and these footsteps.
For without this light it could not be known ; but when
a man has the light, he knows it, and knowing it, loves it, and
becomes a lover of what God loves, and hates what God hates.

TO MISSER LORENZO DEL PINO 219

There is this difference between him who loves the truth
and him who hates it. He who hates the truth, lies in the
darkness of mortal sin. He hates what God loves, and loves
what God hates. God hates sin, and the inordinate joys and
luxuries of the world, and such a man loves it all, fattening
himself on the world's wretched trifles, and corrupting him-
self in every rank. If he has an office in which he ought to
minister in some way to his neighbour, he serves him only so far
as he can get some good for himself out of it, and no farther,
and becomes a lover of himself. Christ the Blessed gave His
life for us, and such a man will not give one word to serve
his neighbour unless he sees it paid, and overpaid. If the
neighbour happens to be a poor man who cannot pay, he makes
him wait before telling him the truth, and often does not tell
it to him at all, but makes fun of him ; and where he ought
to be pitiful and a father of the poor, he becomes cruel to his
own soul because he wrongs the poor. But the wretched man
does not see that the Highest Judge will return to him nothing
else than what he receives from him, since every sin is justly
punished and every good rewarded. Christ embraced volun-
tary poverty and was a lover of continence ; the wretched man (
who has made himself a follower and lover of falsehood does
just the contrary ; not only does he fail to be content with
what he has, or to refrain through love of virtue, but he robs
other people. Nor does he remain content in the state of
marriage, in which, if it is observed as it should be, a man can
stay with a good conscience j but he plunges into every wretched-
ness, like a brute beast, without moderation, and as the pig rolls
in filth, so does he in the filth of impurity.

But we might say : " What shall I do, who have riches, and
am in the state of marriage, if these things bring damnation to
my soul ? " Dearest brother, a man can save his soul and
receive the life of grace into himself, in whatever condition he
may be ; but not while he abides in guilt of mortal sin. For

220 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

every condition is pleasing to God, and He is the acceptor,
not of men's conditions, but of holy desire. So we may hold
to these things when they are held with a temperate will ; for
whatever God has made is good and perfect, except sin, which
was not made by Him, and therefore is not worthy of love.
A man can hold to riches and worldly place if he likes, and he
does not wrong God nor his own soul; but it would be greater
perfection if he renounced them, because there is more perfec-
tion in renunciation than in possession. If he does not wish
to renounce them in deed, he ought to renounce and abandon
them with holy desire, and not to place his chief affections
upon them, but upon God alone ; and let him keep these
things to serve his own needs and those of his family, like
a thing that is lent and not like his own. So doing, he will
never suffer pain from any created thing ; for a thing that is
not possessed with love is never lost with sorrow. So we see
that the servants of the world, lovers of falsehood, endure
very great sufferings in their life, and bitter tortures to the
very end. What is the reason ? The inordinate love they
have for themselves and for created things, which they love
apart from God. For the Divine Goodness has permitted that
every inordinate affection should be unendurable to itself.

Such a man as this always believes falsehood, because there
is no knowledge of truth in him. And he thinks to hold to
the world and abide in delights, to make a god of his body,
and of the other things that he loves immoderately a god, and
he must leave them all. We see that either he leaves them
by dying, or God permits that they be taken from him first.
Every day we see it. For now a man is rich, and now poor ;
to-day he is exalted in worldly state, and to-morrow he is cast
down ; now he is well, and now ill. So all things are mutable,
and are taken from us when we think to clasp them firmly ;
or we are snatched away from them by death.

So you see that all things pass. Then, seeing that they

TO MISSER LORENZO DEL PINO 221

pass, they should be possessed with moderation in the light of
reason, loved in such wise as they should be loved. And he
who holds them thus will not hold them with the help of sin,
but with grace ; with generosity of heart, and not with avarice ;
in pity for the poor, and not in cruelty ; in humility, not in
pride ; in gratitude, not in ingratitude : and will recognize
that his possessions come from his Creator, and not himself.
With this same temperate love he will love his children, his
friends, his relatives, and all other rational beings. He will
hold the condition of marriage as ordained, and ordained as
a Sacrament ; and will have in respect the days commanded by
Holy Church. He will be and live like a man, and not a beast ;
and will be, not indeed ascetic, but continent and self-controlled.
Such a man will be a fruitful tree, that will bear the fruits of
virtue, and will be fragrant, shedding perfume although planted
in the earth ; and the seed that issues from him will be good
and virtuous.

So you see that you can have God in any condition ; for the
condition is not what robs us of Him, but the evil will alone,
which, when it is set on loving falsehood, is ill-ordered and
corrupts a man's every work. But if he loves truth, he
follows the footsteps of truth ; so he hates what truth hates
and loves what truth loves, and then his every work is good
and perfect. Otherwise it would not be possible for him to
share the life of grace, nor would any work of his bear living
fruit.

So, knowing no other way, I said that I desired to see you
a lover and follower of truth and despiser of falsehood j
hating the devil the father of lies, and your own lower nature,
that follows such a parent ; and loving Christ crucified, who
is Way, Truth and Life. For He who walks in Him reaches
the Light, and is clothed in the shining garment of charity,
wherein are all virtues found. Which charity and love
unspeakable, when it is in the soul, holds itself not content

222 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

in the common state, but desires to advance further. Thus
from mental poverty it desires to advance to actual, and from
mental continence to actual ; to observe the Counsels as well
as the Commandments of Christ ; for it begins to feel aversion
for the dunghill of the world. And because it sees the
difficulty of being in filth and not defiled, it longs with
breathless desire and burning charity to free itself by one
act from the world so far as possible. If it is not able to
escape in deed, it studies to be perfect in its own place. At
least, it does not lack desire.

Then, dearest brother, let us sleep no more, but awaken
from slumber. Open the eye of the mind in the light of
faith, to know, to love, to follow that truth which you shall
know through the Blood of the humble and loving Lamb.
You shall know that Blood in the knowledge of yourself,
that the face of your soul may be washed therein. And it is
ours, and none can take it from us unless we choose. Then
be negligent no more ; but like a vase, fill yourself with the
Blood of Christ crucified. I say no more. Remain in the
holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

LETTERS WRITTEN FROM
ROCCA D'ORCIA

These informal little notes were written probably in the
autumn of 1377? while Catherine was making a visit to the
feudal stronghold of the Salimbeni family, about twenty-three
miles from Siena, among the foothills of Monte Amiata. The
young "populana" was admitted to the intimate counsels of
these great nobles, leaders of the opposition to the popular
government with which her own sympathies would naturally
have lain. It must have been a new experience to the town-bred
girl — life in this castle-eyrie among the hills, where mercenary
troops and rude peasants thronged the courtyard, and manners,
one surmises, must have been at once more artful and more
brutal than among her bourgeois friends. We hear of
picturesque scenes, where men and women afflicted of
demons are brought writhing into her presence, to be
welcomed, cared for, and healed. She had the comfort of
the company of several confessors ; the first of these letters
shows them labouring with homely eagerness, quaintly ex-
pressed, for the religious welfare of the wild soldiery.
Absorbed, as ever, in the inward life, Catherine was as
tranquilly at home here in the mountains, among the great
ladies of the Salimbeni family, as in Siena or in the papal
court.

Meantime, good Monna Lapa grumbled as of old over the
separation from her daughter j and evidently Catherine's
sister mantellate were also disconsolate. She writes them

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224 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

very gently, very simply, trying to reconcile them by the
reminder of like sorrows borne by that first group of
disciples to whom she and her friends loved to compare
themselves. To her beloved Alessa she expresses herself
more freely, giving just the details of health and mental
state that intimate love would crave. These were sad days in
her private life j for she had parted from Fra Raimondo, who
had been called to other service. Her words to Alessa reflect
her sadness, and also her entire submission. It is noticeable
that she respects the secrets of her hosts with dignity, giving
no hint on the matters that occupied her beyond the reticent
statement to her mother : "I believe that if you knew the
circumstances you yourself would send me here."

This is not the only time by any means that Catherine had
to meet similar complaints. Wherever she bore her strong
vitality, limitless sympathy and peculiar charm, new friends
gathered around her and clung to her with an unreasoning
devotion that cried out in exacting hunger for her presence,
and often proved to her a real distress. For Catherine,
swiftly responsive as she was to individual affections, perfect
in loyalty as she always showed herself, moved, nevertheless,
in a region where unswerving service of a larger duty might
at any moment force her to refuse to gratify, at least in
outward ways, the personal claim. This was very hard for
her friends to understand ; one is sorry for them. At the
same time, one feels more than a little pathos in her efforts
to bring these simpler minds into understanding sympathy
with that high sense of vocation which underlay all her
doings : " Know, dearest mother, that I, your poor little
daughter, am not put on earth for anything else than this ;
to this my Creator has chosen me. I know you are content
that I should obey Him." But Monna Lapa never was quite
content — not to the very end.

TO MONNA LAPA HER MOTHER

AND TO MONNA CECCA

IN THE MONASTERY OF SAINT AGNES AT
MONTEPULCIANO, WHEN SHE WAS AT ROCCA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest mother and daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write to you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you
so clothed in the flames of divine charity that you may bear
all pain and torment* hunger and thirst, persecution and
injury, derision, outrage and insult, and everything else, with
true patience ; learning from the Lamb suffering and slain,
who ran with such burning love to the shameful death of the
Cross. Do you then keep in companionship with sweetest
Mother Mary, who, in order that the holy disciples might
seek the honour of God and the salvation of souls, following
the footsteps of her sweet Son, consents that they should
leave her presence, although she loved them supremely : and
she stays as if alone, a guest and a pilgrim. And the disciples,
who loved her beyond measure, yet leave her joyously,
enduring every grief for the honour of God, and go out
among tyrants, enduring many persecutions. And if you ask
them: "Why do you carry yourselves so joyously, and you
are going away from Mary?" they would reply: "Because
we have lost ourselves, and are enamoured of the honour of
God and the salvation of souls." Well, dearest mother and
daughter, I want you to do just so. If up to now you have
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226 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

not been, I want you to be now, kindled in the fire of divine
charity, seeking always the honour of God and the salvation
of souls. Otherwise you would fall into the greatest grief
and tribulation, and would drag me down into them. Know,
dearest mother, that I, your poor little daughter, am not put
on earth for anything else ; to this my Creator has elected me.
I know you are content that I should obey Him. I beg you
that if I seemed to stay away longer than pleased your will, you
will be contented ; for I cannot do otherwise. I believe that
if you knew the circumstances you yourself would send me
here. I am staying to find help if I can for a great scandal.
It is no fault of the Countess, though; therefore do you
all pray God and that glorious Virgin to send us a good
result. And do you, Cecca, and Giustina, drown yourselves
in the Blood of Christ crucified ; for now is the time to prove
the virtue in your soul. God give His sweet and eternal
benediction to you all. I say no more. Remain in the holy
and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO MONNA CATARINA

OF THE HOSPITAL AND TO

GIOVANNA DI CAPO IN SIENA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughters in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you
in His precious Blood : with desire to see you obedient
daughters, united in true and perfect charity. This obedience
and love will dissipate all your suffering and gloom •, for
obedience removes the thing which gives us suffering, that is
our own perverse will, which is wholly destroyed in true
holy obedience. Gloom is scattered and consumed by the
impulse of charity and unity, for God is true charity and
highest eternal light. He who has this true light for his
guide, cannot miss the road. Therefore, dearest daughters,
I want, since it is so necessary, that you should study to lose
your own will and to gain this light.

This is the doctrine which I remember has always been
given you, although you have learned little of it. That
which is not done, I beg you to do, dearest daughters. If
you did not, you would abide in continual sufferings, and
would drag poor me, who deserve every suffering, into
them too.

We must do for the honour of God as the holy apostles
did. When they had received the Holy Spirit, they separated
from one another, and from that sweet mother Mary.
Although it was their greatest delight to stay together, yet

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228 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

they gave up their own delight, and sought the honour of God
and the salvation of souls. And although Mary sends them
away from her, they do not therefore hold that love is
diminished, or that they are deprived of the affection of Mary.
This is the rule that we must take to ourselves. I know that
my presence is a great consolation to you. Nevertheless, as
truly obedient, you should not seek your own consolation, for
the honour of God and the salvation of souls : and do not give
place to the devil, who makes it look to you as if you were
deprived of the love and devotion which I bear to your souls
and bodies. Were it otherwise, true love would not be built
on you. I assure you that I do not love you otherwise than
in God. "Why do you fall into such unregulated suffering
over things which must necessarily be so ? Oh, what shall
we do when it shall befit us to do great deeds if we fail so in
the little ones ? "We shall have to be together or separated
according as things shall befall. Just now our sweet Saviour
wills and permits that we be separated for His honour.

You are in Siena, and Cecca and Grandma are in Monte-
pulciano. Frate Bartolomeo and Frate Matteo will be there and
have been there. Alessa and Monna Bruna are at Monte
Giove, eighteen miles from Montepulciano ; they are with the
Countess and Monna Lisa. Frate Raimondo and Frate Tom-
maso and Monna Tomma and Lisa and I are at Rocca among
the Free-lances. And so many incarnate demons are being
eaten up that Frate Tommaso says that his stomach aches over
it ! With all this they cannot be satisfied, and they are hungry
for more, and find work here at a good price. Pray the
Divine Goodness to give them big, sweet and bitter mouth-
fuls ! Think that the honour of God and the salvation of
souls is being sweetly seen. You ought not to want or
desire anything else. You could do nothing more pleasing to
the highest eternal will of God, and to mine, than feeling
thus. Up, my daughters, begin to sacrifice your own wills to

MONNA CATARINA AND GIOVANNA DI CAPO 229

God ! Don't be ready always to stay nurselings — for you
should get the teeth of your desire ready to bite hard and
musty bread, if needs be.

I say no more. Bind you in the sweet bands of love, so
you will show that you are daughters — not otherwise. Com-
fort you in Christ sweet Jesus, and comfort all the other
daughters. We will come back as soon as we can, according
as it shall please the Divine Goodness. Remain in the holy
and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO MONNA ALESSA

CLOTHED WITH THE HABIT OF
SAINT DOMINIC, WHEN SHE WAS AT ROCCA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in
His precious Blood : with desire to see thee follow the doctrine
of the Spotless Lamb with a free heart, divested of every
creature-love, clothed only with the Creator, in the light of
most holy faith. For without the light thou couldst not
walk in the straight way of the Slain and Spotless Lamb.
Therefore my soul desires to see thee and the others clean
and virile, and not blown about by every wind that may befall.
Beware of looking back, but go on steadily, holding in mind
the teaching that has been given thee. Be sure to enter
every day anew into the garden of thy soul with the light of
faith to pull up every thorn that might smother the seed of
the teaching given thee, and to turn over the earth ; that is,
every day do thou divest thy heart. It is necessary to divest
it over and over ; for many a time I have seen people who
seemed to have divested themselves, whom I have found
clothed in sin, by evidence rather of deed than of words.
The opposite might appear by their words, but deeds showed
their affections. I want, then, that thou shouldst divest thy
heart in truth, following Christ crucified. And let silence
abide on thy lips. I have taken note ; for I believe that the
other woman holds to it very little. I am very sorry for that.
If it is so, as it seems to me, my Creator wills that I should

230

TO MONNA ALESSA 231

bear it, and I am content to do so : but I am not content
with the wrong done to God.

Thou didst write me that God seemed to constrain thee in
thy orisons to pray for me. Thanks be to the Divine Good-
ness, who shows such unspeakable love to my poor soul !
Thou didst tell me to write thee if I were suffering and had
my usual infirmities at this time. I reply that God has cared
for me marvellously, within and without. He has cared very
much for my body this Advent, causing the pains to be
diverted by writing ; it is true that, by the goodness of God,
they have been worse than they used to be. If He made them
worse, He saw to it that Lisa was cured as soon as Frate Santi
fell ill — for he has been at the point of death. Now, almost
miraculously, he has grown so much better that he can be
called cured. But apparently my Bridegroom, Eternal Truth,
has wished to put me to a very sweet and genuine test, inward
and outward, in the things which are seen and those which are
not — the latter beyond count the greater. But while He was
testing us, He has cared for us so gently as tongue could not
tell. Therefore I wish pains to be food to me, tears my drink,
sweat my ointment. Let pains make me fat, let pains cure me,
let pains give me light, let pains give me wisdom, let pains
clothe my nakedness, let pains strip me of all self-love,
spiritual and temporal. The pain of lacking consolations from
my fellow-creatures has called me to consider my own lack of
virtue, recognizing my imperfection, and the very perfect light
of Sweet Truth, who gives and receives, not material things,
but holy desires : Him who has not withdrawn His goodness
toward me for my little light or knowledge, but has had regard
only to Himself, the One supremely Good.

I beg thee by the love of Jesus Christ crucified, dearest
my daughter, do not slacken in prayer : nay, redouble it — for
I have greater need thereof than thou seest — and do thou
thank the Goodness of God for me. And pray Him to give

232 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

me grace that I may give my life for Him, and to take away,
if so please Him, the burden of my body. For my life is of
very little use to anyone else ; rather is it painful and op-
pressive to every person, far and near, by reason of my sins.
May God by His mercy take from me such great faults, and for
the little time that I have to live, may He make me live im-
passioned by the love of virtue ! And may I in pain offer
before Him my dolorous and suffering desires for the salvation
of all the world and the reformation of Holy Church ! Joy,
joy in the Cross with me ! So may the Cross be a bed where
the soul may rest : a table where may be tasted heavenly food,
the fruit of patience with quietness and assurance.

Thou didst send to me saying .... I was consoled by this
thing, both by her life, hoping that she is correcting herself
and living with less vanity of heart than she has done till now,
and also by the children's having been brought to the light of
Holy Baptism. May God give them His sweetest grace, and
grant them death if they are not to be good ! Bless them,
and comfort her, in Christ sweet Jesus : and tell her to live
in the holy and sweet fear of God, and to recognize the grace
she has received from God, which has not been small but very
great. Were she to be ungrateful, it would much displease
God, and perhaps He would not leave her unpunished.

I commend to thee ... I have had no news at all of them,
I do not know why. The will of God be done ! Our
Saviour has put me on the Island, and the winds beat from
every side. Let everyone rejoice in Christ crucified, however
far one from the other. Shut thee into the house of self-
knowledge. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO GREGORY XI

There is no evidence as to the date of this letter, but the
tone is such that Catherine's latest editor is probably right
in placing it after the return of the Pope to Italy. It suggests
that a long relation is drawing to a close, and closing, so
far as Catherine is concerned, in disappointment. Never,
in her earlier relations with Gregory, would she have gone
such lengths as here, in her amazing hint that he would better
resign the Papacy if he finds himself unable to sustain the
moral burdens it imposes. The Pope is at Rome, but he has
changed his sky and not his mind. Catherine's letter is a
brief and powerful summary of oft-reiterated pleas. In the
solemnity and authority of its adjurations, in the distinctness
of its accusations, it is surely one of the most surprising
epistles ever written by a devout and wholly faithful subject
to her acknowledged head. Such a letter proceeds, indeed,
from a spiritual region where all earthly distinctions — ecclesi-
astical as well as intellectual or social — are lost to sight, and
the illiterate daughter of the dyer can rebuke and exhort
as by her natural right him whom with unwavering faith
she believed to be the God-appointed father of all Christian
people. Catherine's patience, one feels, is near the breaking
point : and heart-break for her is in truth not many years
away.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Most holy and sweet father, your poor unworthy daughter
Catherine in Christ sweet Jesus, commends herself to you

233

234 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

in His precious Blood : with desire to see you a manly man,
free from any fear or fleshly love toward yourself, or toward
any creature related to you in the flesh ; since I perceive in
the sweet Presence of God that nothing so hinders your holy,
good desire and so serves to hinder the honour of God and
the exaltation and reform of Holy Church, as this. Therefore,
my soul desires with immeasurable love that God by His
infinite mercy may take from you all passion and lukewarm-
ness of heart, and re-form you another man, by forming in
you anew a burning and ardent desire ; for in no other way
could you fulfil the will of God and the desire of His servants.
Alas, alas, sweetest " Babbo " mine, pardon my presumption
in what I have said to you and am saying ; I am constrained by
the Sweet Primal Truth to say it. His will, father, is this,
and thus demands of you. It demands that you execute
justice on the abundance of many iniquities committed by
those who are fed and pastured in the garden of Holy Church ;
declaring that brutes should not be fed with the food of men.
Since He has given you authority and you have assumed
it, you should use your virtue and power : and if you are not
willing to use it, it would be better for you to resign what
you have assumed ; more honour to God and health to your
soul would it be.

Another demand that His will makes is this : He wills that
you make peace with all Tuscany, with which you are at
strife ; securing from all your wicked sons who have rebelled
against you whatever is possible to secure without war — but
punishing them as a father ought to punish a son who has
wronged him. Moreover, the sweet goodness of God de-
mands from you that you give full authority to those w^o ask
you to make ready for the Holy Crusade — that thing which
appears impossible to you, and possible to the sweet goodness
of God, who has ordained it, and wills that so it be. Beware,
as you hold your life dear, that you commit no negligence

TO GREGORY XI 235

in this, nor treat as jests the works of the Holy Spirit, which
are demanded from you because you can do them. If you
want justice, you can execute it. You can have peace, with-
drawing from the perverse pomps and delights of the world,
preserving only the honour of God and the due of Holy
Church. Authority also you have to give peace to those who
ask you for it. Then, since you are not poor but rich —
you who bear in your hand the keys of Heaven, to whom you
open it is open, and to whom you shut it is shut — if you
do not do this, you would be rebuked by God. I, if I were
in your place, should fear lest divine judgment come upon me.
Therefore I beg you most gently on behalf of Christ crucified
to be obedient to the will of God, for I know that you want
and desire no other thing than to do His will, that this sharp
rebuke fall not upon you : " Cursed be thou, for the time and
the strength entrusted to thee thou hast not used." I believe,
father, by the goodness of God, and also taking hope from
your holiness, that you will so act that this will not fall
upon you.

I say no more. Pardon me, pardon me 5 for the great love
which I bear to your salvation, and my great grief when
I see the contrary, makes me speak so. Willingly would I
have said it to your own person, fully to unburden my con-
science. When it shall please your Holiness that I come to
you, I will come willingly. So do that I may not appeal to
Christ crucified from you ; for to no other can I appeal, for
there is no greater on earth. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. I ask you humbly for your benediction. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO RAIMONDO OF CAPUA

OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS

This letter confirms what history elsewhere indicates — that
Gregory, after his return to Italy, turned against Catherine,
She no longer addresses her " dear Babbo " personally, with
the old happy familiarity ; rather, she sends through Fra
Raimondo formal and almost tremulous messages to "his
Holiness, the Vicar of Christ." Raimondo, apparently from
his connection with her, is evidently included in the papal dis-
pleasure. Catherine writes to give him courage and comfort ;
in her touching advice as to the best way of preparing one's
self to meet contentions and injustice, we may recognize the
secret source of her own rare self-control.

Catherine's attitude toward the angered Pope is a compound
of contrition and firmness. No words could express swifter
readiness to accept rebuke or a more passionate humility :
none could more vigorously maintain the unwelcome con-
victions which had given offence. There are various surmises
as to the exact occasion of the misunderstanding to which this
letter refers : were we to add one, we might suspect that the
audacity of the preceding letter had been too much, even
for Gregory. But the general situation speaks for itself.
Gregory was strong enough, under her inspiration, to make
the great physical and moral effort of returning to Italy : he
was, as we have seen, not strong enough to cope with what
he found there. Enfeebled by ill-health, hampered by his
lack of knowledge of Italian, rendered desperate by the
difficulties he encountered, it is small wonder that, as many
another weak nature would have done, he turned in rage

236

TO RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 237

or cold displeasure against the instrument of his return.
There is a story that Gregory on his deathbed Warned the
bystanders against Catherine, and whether it be true or not,
it suggests the contemporary impression as to his tone toward
her during his last days. Here is sad ending to a relation
that during its earlier phases possessed a singular beauty.
How sorely Catherine must have been hurt we may well
imagine. Her brief triumph was all turned to bitterness :
less, we may be sure, from her personal loss of the Pope's
confidence — though she was human enough to feel this keenly
— than from the utter failure of the hopes she had built on his
return.

In this letter her genuine self-abasement before Gregory's
displeasure changes with dramatic suddenness to another tone.
The accuser becomes the judge once more, and speaks with
the old authority : " God demands that you do this — as you
know that you were told." Her personal feeling for the man
breaks forth in the appeal : " To whom shall I have recourse
should you abandon me ? Who would help me ? " But in the
same breath comes her magnificent assurance, that though she
may offend Christ's Vicar, the Head of the Church, she may yet
flee with confidence to Christ Himself, and rest secure upon
the bosom of His Bride.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet. Mary :

Dearest and sweetest father in Christ sweet Jesus ; I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write to you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you a
true combatant against the wiles and vexations of the devil,
and the malice and persecution of men, and against your own
fleshly self-love, which is an enemy that, unless a man drives
it away by virtue and holy hate, prevents him from ever being
strong in the other battles which we encounter every day.

238 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

For self-love weakens us, and therefore it is imperative that
we drive it away with the strength of virtue, which we shall
gain in the unspeakable love that God has shown us, through
the Blood of His only-begotten Son. This love, drawn from
the divine love, gives us light and life ; light, to know the
truth when necessary to our salvation and to win great per-
fection, and to endure with true patience and fortitude and
constancy until death — for by such fortitude, won from the
light that makes us know the truth, we win the life of divine
grace. Drink deep, then, in the Blood of the Spotless Lamb,
and be a faithful servant, not faithless, to your Creator. And
fear not, nor turn back, for any battle or gloom that may
come upon you, but persevere in faith till death ; for well you
know that perseverance will give you the fruit of your
labours.

I have understood from a certain servant of God who holds
you in continual prayer before Him, that you have met very
great battles, and that gloom has fallen upon your mind
through the crafts and wiles of the devil, who wishes to
make you see wrong as right and right as wrong ; this he does
in order that you may fail in your going and not reach the
goal. But comfort you, for God has provided and shall pro-
vide, and His providence shall not be lacking. Be sure that
in all things you have recourse to Mary, embracing the holy
Cross, and never let yourself fall into confusion of mind, but
sail in a stormy sea in the ship of divine mercy. I under-
stand: if from men religious or secular, even in the mystical
body of Holy Church, you have suffered persecution or dis-
pleasure, or have been visited with the indignation of the
Vicar of Christ, either on your own account, or if you have
had something to bear on my account with all these people —
you are not to resist, but bear it patiently, leaving at once, and
going into your cell, there to know yourself in holy medita-
tion ; reflecting that God is making you worthy to endure for

TO RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 239

the love of truth, and to be persecuted for His Name, deem-
ing yourself in true humility worthy of punishment and un-
worthy to gain results. And do all the things that you have
to do prudently, holding God before your eyes ; do and say
what you have to say and do in the Presence of God and of
your own thought with the help of holy prayer. There shall
you find the Master, the Holy Spirit, rich in clemency, who
shall pour upon you a light of wisdom that shall make you
discern and choose what shall be to his honour. This is the
doctrine given to us by the Sweet Primal Truth, caring for our
need with measureless love.

If it happened, dearest father, that you found yourself in
the presence of his Holiness the Vicar of Christ, our very
sweet and holy father, humbly commend me to him. I hold
myself in fault before his Holiness for much ignorance and
negligence which I have committed against God, and for dis-
obedience against my Creator, who summoned me to cry
aloud with passionate desire, and to cry before Him in prayer,
and to put myself in word and in bodily presence close to His
Vicar. In all possible ways I have committed measureless
faults, on account of which, yes, on account of my many
iniquities, I believe that he has suffered many persecutions, he
and Holy Church. Wherefore if he complains of me he is
right, and right in punishing me for my defects. But tell him
that up to the limits of my power I shall strive to correct my
faults, and to fulfil more perfectly his obedience. So I trust
by the divine goodness that He will turn the eyes of His
mercy upon the Bride of Christ and His Vicar, and upon me,
freeing me from my defects and ignorance ; but upon His
Bride, by giving her the refreshment of peace and renewal,
with much endurance (for in no way without toils can be up-
rooted the many thorny faults that choke the garden of Holy
Church), and that God will give him grace in those parts
where he wants to be a manly man, and not to look back, for

24o LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

any toil or persecution that may befall him from his wicked
sons ; constant and persevering, let him not avoid weariness,
but let him throw himself like a lamb into the midst of the
wolves, with hungry desire for the honour of God and the
salvation of souls, putting far from him care for temporal
things, and watching over spiritual things alone. If he does
so, as divine goodness demands of him, the lamb will lord it
over the wolves, and the wolves will turn into lambs ; and
thus we shall see the glory and praise of the name of God,
the good and peace of Holy Church. In no other way can
these be won ; not through var, but through peace and be-
nignity, and such holy spiritual punishment as a father should
inflict on a son who does wrong.

Alas, alas, alas, most holy father 1 The first day that you
came to your own place, you should have done so. I hope
in the goodness of God and in your holiness that what is not
done you will do. In this way both temporalities and spirituali-
ties are won back. God demanded that you do this — as you
know that you were told — that you care for the reformation of
Holy Church, punishing its sins and establishing good shep-
herds ; and that you make holy peace with your wicked sons
in the best way and most pleasing to God that could be done ;
so that then you might see to uplifting with your arms the
standard of the most holy Cross against the infidels. I believe
that our negligence and our not doing what could be done — ■
not cruelly nor quarrelsomely, but in peace and benignity
— (always punishing a man who has done wrong, not in propor-
tion to his deserts, for he could not endure what he deserves,
but in proportion to what the sick man is in a condition to
bear) — are, perhaps, the reason why such disaster and loss
and irreverence toward Holy Church and her ministers has
befallen. And I fear that unless a remedy is found by doing
what has been left undone, our sins may deserve so much that
we shall see greater misfortunes j such I say as would grieve

TO RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 241

us much more than to lose temporal possessions. Of all these
evils and sorrows, wretched I am the cause, through my little
virtue and my great disobedience.

Most holy father, look in the light of reason and truth at
your displeasure against me, not as punishment, but as dis-
pleasure. To whom shall I have recourse should you abandon
me ? Who would help me ? To whom do I flee, should you
cast me out ? My persecutors pursue me, and I flee to you,
and to the other sons and servants of God. Should you aban-
don me, assuming displeasure and wrath against me, I will hide
me in the wounds of Christ crucified, whose Vicar you are :
and I know that He will receive me, for He wills not the
death of a sinner. And, when I am received by Him, you will
not drive me out ; nay, we shall abide in our own place to
fight manfully with the weapons of virtue for the sweet Bride
of Christ. In her I wish to end my life, with tears, with
sweats, with sighs, giving my blood and the marrow of my
bones. And should all the world drive me out, I will not
care, reposing with plaints and great endurance on the breast
of that sweet Bride. Pardon, most holy father, all my ignor-
ance, and the wrong that I have done to God and to your ,
Holiness. It is Truth that excuses me and sets me free ;
Truth Eternal. Humbly I ask your benediction.

To you, dearest father (Raimondo), I say : when it is
possible to you, keep a manly heart in the presence of his
Holiness, without any pain or servile fear ; remain first a while
in your cell, in the presence of Mary and of the most holy
Cross, in holy and humble prayer, in true knowledge of your-
self, with living faith and will to endure ; and then go (to the
Pope) in security. And do what you can for the honour of God
and the salvation of souls, to the point of death. Announce
to him what I write you in this letter as the Holy Spirit shall
guide you. I say no more. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO URBAN VI

In March, 1 378, Gregory died, and was succeeded by the
Archbishop of Bari, who took the name of Urban VI. The
sensitive, cultured, vacillating Frenchman gave place to a
Neapolitan of coarse physique— a man personally virtuous,
but, as history shows us, extraordinarily harsh and violent in
disposition. " It seems," the Prior of the Island of Gorgona
wrote with alarming candour to Catherine, "that our new
Christ on earth is a terrible man."

Catherine was at Florence at the time — having been sent
thither by Gregory, who, however alienated from her person-
ally, seems till the end to have valued her services. The
following is the first letter from her to Urban which we
possess. It is evident that she has as yet little knowledge of
the new Pope at first hand. She writes to him in much the
same strain as that in which she was accustomed to address
his predecessor ; only the sense of a new hearer inspires her,
after the rather dull opening of the letter, with fresh fervour
in recapitulating the sins and woes of the Church. Possibly,
also, there is a little more insistence than usual on the plea
that mercy temper justice, in the case of the rebellious
Tuscan cities. The sensible policy for such a situation could
hardly be better summed up than in her concise phrase :
" Receive from a sick man what he can give you "

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Most holy and dear father in Christ sweet Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,

242

TO URBAN VI 243

write to you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you
founded upon true and perfect charity, so that, like a good
shepherd, you may lay down your life for your sheep. And
truly, most holy father, only he who is founded upon charity
is ready to die for the love of God and the salvation of souls :
because he is free from self-love. For he who abides in self-
love is not ready to give his life ; and not to speak of his life,
apparently he is not willing to bear the least little pain : for he
is always afraid for himself, lest he lose his bodily life and his
private consolations. So he does whatever he may do im-
perfectly and corruptly, because his chief impulse, through
which he acts, is corrupt. In whatever state he may be,
shepherd or subject, he shows little virtue. But the shepherd
who is established in true charity does not do so ; his every
work is good and perfect, because his impulse is absolutely
one with the perfection of divine charity. Such a man
as this fears neither the devil nor his fellow-beings, but
only his Creator ; he does not mind the detractions of
the world, nor shames, nor insults, nor jests, nor the
criticisms of his subordinates ; who take offence, and turn
to criticizing when they are reproved by their prelate.1
But like a manly man, clothed in the fortitude of charity, he
does not care.

Nor, therefore, does he suppress the flame of holy desire,
nor cast from him the pearl of justice, lucid and one with
mercy, which he bears upon his breast. Were justice without
mercy, it would abide in the shadows of cruelty, and would
• turn into injustice. And mercy without justice toward one's
subordinate would be like ointment on a wound that ought to
be cauterized : if ointment is applied without cauterizing it
rots more than it heals. But when both are joined they give
life to the prelate who uses them, and health to the subject if
he is not a member of the devil, entirely unwilling to correct
himself. However, if the subject failed to correct himself a

244 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

thousand times over, the prelate ought not to give up correct-
ing him, and his virtue will be none the less because that
wicked man does not profit by it. In this way works the pure
and clean charity of a soul that cares for itself not for its own
sake, but for God, and seeks God for the glory and praise of His
name, in so far as it sees that He is worthy of being loved for
His infinite goodness — nor seeks its neighbour for its own sake,
but for God, wishing to render him that service which it cannot
render to God. For it recognizes that He is our God, who
has no need of us. Therefore it studies with great zeal to be
useful to its neighbour, and especially to the subjects com-
mitted to it. And it does not draw back from pursuing the
salvation of their souls and bodies for any ingratitude found
in them, nor for the threats or flatteries of man ; but, in truth,
clothed in the wedding garment, follows the doctrine of the
Spotless Humble Lamb, that gentle and good Shepherd who,
as one enamoured, ran for our salvation to the shameful death
of the most holy Cross. The unspeakable love which the
soul has conceived for Christ crucified does all this. Most holy
father, God has placed you as a shepherd over all His sheep who
belong to the whole Christian religion; He has placed you as the
minister of the Blood of Christ crucified, whose Vicar you are;
and He placed you in a time in which wickedness abounds
more among your inferiors than it has done for a long time,
both in the body of Holy Church, and in the universal body
of the Christian religion. Therefore it is extremely necessary
for you to be established in perfect charity, wearing the pearl
of justice, as I said ; that you may not mind the world, nor
poor people used to evil, nor any injuries of theirs ; but
manfully correct them, like a true knight and just shepherd,
uprooting, vices and implanting virtues, ready to lay down
your life if needs be. Sweetest father, the world cannot bear
any more ; vices are so abundant, especially among those who
were put in the garden of Holy Church to be fragrant flowers,

TO URBAN VI 245

shedding the fragrance of virtue ; and we see that they abound
in wretched, hateful vices, so that they make the whole world
reek ! Oh me ! where is the purity of heart and perfect charity
which should make the incontinent continent by contact with
them ? It is quite the contrary : many a time the continent
and the pure are led by their impurities to try incontinence. Oh
me ! where is the generosity of charity, and the care of souls,
and distribution to the poor and to the good of the Church,
and their necessities ? You know well that men do quite the
contrary. Oh me miserable ! With grief I say it — your sons
nourish themselves on the wealth they receive by ministering
the Blood of Christ, and are not ashamed of being as money-
changers, playing with those most sacred anointed hands of
yours, you Vicar of Christ : without speaking of the other
wretched deeds which they commit. Oh me ! where is that
deep humility with which to confound that pride of sensuality
of theirs, by which in their great avarice they commit
simonies, buying benefices with gifts, or flatteries, or money,
dissolute and vain adornments, not as clerics, but worse than
seculars ! Oh me, sweet my Babbo, bring us a remedy ! And
give refreshment to the desperate desires of the servants of
God, who die and cannot die. They wait with great desire
that you as a true shepherd should put your hand to correcting
these things, not only with words but with deeds, while the
pearl of justice, joined to mercy, shines on your breast ;
correcting in truth, without any servile fear, those who
nourish them at the breast of the sweet Bride of Christ, the
ministers of the Blood.

But truly, most holy father, I do not see how this can be
well done if you do not make over anew the garden of your
Bride, stocking it with good virtuous plants ; taking pains to
choose a troop of very holy men, in whom you find virtue and
no fear of death. Do not aim at grandeur, but let them be shep-
herds who rule their flocks with zeal. And a troop of good

246 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

cardinals, who may be upright columns of yours, helping you
to bear the weight of many burdens, with divine help. Oh,
how blessed will be my soul then, when I shall see that which
is hers given back to the Bride of Christ, and those nourished
at her breast regarding not their own good, but the glory and
praise of the Name of God, and feeding on the food of souls
at the table of the holy Cross. I have no question that then
your lay subjects will correct themselves — for they will not be
able to help it, constrained by the holy and pure life of the
clergy. We are not, then, to sleep over it, but manfully and
without negligence to do what you can, even unto death, for
the glory and praise of the Name of God.

Next I beg you, and constrain you by the love of Christ
crucified, as to those sheep who have left the fold — I believe,
for my sins — that by the love of that Blood of which you are
made minister, you delay not to receive them in mercy, and
with your benignity and holiness force their hardness ; give
them the good of bringing them back into the fold, and if
they do not ask it in true and perfect humility, let your Holi-
ness fulfil their imperfection. Receive from a sick man what
he can give you. Oh me, oh me, have mercy on so many souls
that perish ! Do not consider the scandal which occurred in
this city, in which surely the devils of hell busied themselves,
to hinder the peace and quiet of souls and bodies : but Divine
Goodness saw to it that no great harm came from the great
evil, but your sons pacified themselves, and now ask of you
the oil of mercy. Grant that it seems to you, most holy
father, that they do not ask it in those conciliatory ways nor
with that heartfelt distaste for the sin they committed which
they should, as it would please your Holiness to have them —
yet, oh me, do not give up ! For they will make better sons
than other people. Oh me, Babbo mine, I do not want to stay
here any longer ! Do with me then what you will. Show me
this grace and favour, poor wretch that I am, knocking at your

TO URBAN VI 247

door. Do not deny me the easy little things that I ask you for
your sons ; so that, having made peace, you may raise the
standard of the most holy Cross. For you see well that
the infidels have come to summon you. I hope by the sweet
goodness of God that He will fill you with His burning
charity, so that you shall know the loss of souls, and how
much you are bound to love them : and so you shall increase
in eager zeal to set them free from the hands. of the devil, and
shall seek to heal the mystical body of Holy Church, and the
body of the universal Christian religion ; and especially to
reconcile your sons, winning them with benignity, with as
much use of the rod of justice as they are fit to bear, and no
more. I am certain that unless we have the virtue of charity,
this will not be done ; and therefore I said that I wished to see
you established in true and perfect charity. Not that I do not
believe that you are in charity, but because we can grow
in the perfection of charity since we are always pilgrims and
strangers in this life, I said that I wished this perfection in
you, that you feed it constantly with the flame of holy desire,
and shed it upon your subjects, like a good shepherd. I beg
you to do so. And I will stay, and labour till I die, in prayer
and in whatever way I can, for the honour of God and for your
peace and that of your sons.

I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace
of God. Pardon my presumption, most holy father ; but love
and grief are my excuse before your Holiness. I ask you
humbly for your benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO HER SPIRITUAL CHILDREN IN SIENA

Catherine turned without difficulty from public cares to the
needs and problems of the little group of disciples in the re-
stricted life of Siena. To her eyes, there was no great nor
small ; the one drama was as important as the other, since both
were God's appointed schools of character. She was, as we
have already seen, wise in the lore of Christian friendship,
How thoroughly she understood the tendencies likely to
appear in a limited group of good people, bound closely
together in faith and life, these letters, among others, bear
witness. Not only in religious communities, but wherever
such a group exists, similar conditions arise. The life of the
affections becomes of leading importance ; too often it is un-
regulated, and runs to morbid extremes ; on the other hand,
the peculiarly provincial temptation to carping mutual scrutiny
as well as to overwrought sensitiveness, is sure to be at play.
All her life long Catherine combated these dangers, in the
strength at once of a large mind and of a gentle heart. The
first of these letters puts in beautiful form the ideal of a truly
consecrated affection. The second repeats her familiar warn-
ing against a critical temper, and her favourite plea for that
generous tolerance which puts the highest possible construc-
tion on one's neighbour's conduct. Tolerance, one surmises,
was to her peculiarly swift and lofty spirit one of the most
difficult among the virtues. Yet, or rather therefore, no one
has ever presented more emphatically the relief afforded by the
great permission and command, " Judge not,"

248

TO BROTHER WILLIAM AND

TO MESSER MATTEO
OF THE MISERICORDIA

AND TO BROTHER SANTI
AND TO HER OTHER SONS

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood, with desire to see you bound in the bands of
charity, for I consider that without this bond we cannot please
God. This is the sweet sign by which the servants and sons
of Christ are recognized. But think, my sons, that this bond
must be clean, and not spotted by self-love. If thou lovest
thy Creator, love and serve Him in so far as He is highest
and eternal good, worthy of being loved, and not for thine
own profit, for that would be a mercenary love, like a miser
who loves money because of his avarice. So let your love for
your neighbour be clean. Love, love one another ; you are
neighbours one of the other. But be on your guard, for if
your love were founded in your own profit or in the private
affection which you might have for one another, it would not
endure, but would fail, and your soul would find itself empty.
The love which is founded in God must be of such a sort
that it has to love with regard to virtue, and inasmuch as the
friend is a creature made in the image of God. For while
delight in him whom I love, or profit from him may grow less,
if one abides in God love does not fail, because one loves
with regard to virtue and the honour of God, and not to one's

249

250 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

own personality. I say that if one abides in God, even if
virtue should fail in him who loves, yet love does not turn
away. The love of the virtue which is not there fails to be
sure j but it does not fail in so far as a man is a creature of
God, His member, bound in the mystical body of the Holy
Church. Nay, there grows within one a love made up of
great and true compassion, and with desire he brings his
friend to the birth, with tears and sighs and continual
prayers in the sweet Presence of God. Now this is the
affection which. Christ left to His disciples, which never
lessens or grows languid, and is not impatient for any injury it
receives; there is no spirit of criticism in it nor displeasure, be-
cause it loves the friend, not for himself, but for God. It does not
judge nor want to judge the will of men, but the will of its
Creator, which seeks and wills naught but our sanctiflcation.
And it joys in what God permits, of whatsoever kind it be,
since it seeks naught but the honour of its Creator and the
salvation of its neighbour. Truly may we say that such men
are bound in the bond of charity with the band which held
God-and-Man fast and nailed on the wood of the most holy
and sweet Cross.

But think, sons mine, that you would never reach this
perfect union did you not hold as your object Christ crucified,
and follow His footsteps. For in Him you will find this love,
who has loved you by grace and not by duty. And because
He loves by grace, He has never grown languid in His love,
neither for our ingratitude nor ignorance nor pride nor
vanity, but ever persevering, even to the shameful death of
the Cross, freeing us from death and giving us life. Now so
do you, my sons, learn — learn from Him. Love, love one
another, with pure and holy love, in Christ sweet Jesus. I
say no more, because I hope to see you again soon, when it
shall please the divine goodness. Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO SANO DI MACO AND
ALL HER OTHER SONS IN SIENA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you strong and persevering
till the end of your life. For I consider that without
perseverance no one can please God, or receive the crown
of reward. He who perseveres is always strong, and forti-
tude makes him persevere.

"We have absolute need of the gift of fortitude, for we are
besieged by many foes. The world, with its delights and
deceits ; the devil, with many vexing temptations, who lights
upon the lips of men, making them say insulting and critical
things, and who often makes us lose our worldly goods — and
this he does solely to recall us from devoted charity to our
neighbour ; the flesh, astir in our own senses, seeking to war
against the spirit. Yes, truly, all these foes of ours have
besieged us ; yet we need feel no servile fear, because they
are discomfited through the Blood of the Spotless Lamb.
We ought bravely to reply to the world and resist it, dis-
paraging its delights and honours, judging it to have in itself
no abiding stability whatever. It shows us long life, with
youth a-blossom and great riches ; and they are all seen to be
vanity, since from 'life we come to death, from youth to age,
from wealth to poverty ; and thus we are always running
toward the goal of death. Therefore we need to open the

251

252 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

eye of the mind, to see how miserable he is who trusts in
the world. In this wise one will come to despise and hate
what first he loved. To the wiles of the devil we can reply
manfully, seeing his weakness ; for he can conquer no one
who does not wish to be conquered. One can reply to him
then with lively faith and hope, and with holy hatred of one's
self. For in such hate one will become patient toward every
tempting vexation and tribulation of the world, and will bear
these things with true patience, from what side soever they
come, if one shall hate one's own fleshliness and love to abide
on the Cross with Christ crucified.

From living faith one will derive a will in accord with that
of God, and will quench in heart and mind the human instinct
of judging. The will of God alone shall judge, which
seeks and wills naught but our sanctification. In this wise one
is not shocked at his neighbour and does not criticize him.
Nor does he pass judgment on a man who talks against him :
he condemns himself alone, seeing that it is the will of God
which permits such men to vex him for his good. Ah, how
blessed is the soul which clothes itself in a judgment so
gentle ! He does not condemn the servants of this world
who do him injury ; nor does he condemn the servants of
God, wishing to drive them in his own way, as many pre-
sumptuous, proud men do, who under cloak of the honour
of God and the salvation of souls, are shocked by the servants
of God, and assume a critical attitude under cover of this
cloak, saying • "Such words do not please me." And so a man
becomes disturbed in himself, and also makes others disturbed
with his tongue, claiming that he speaks through the force
of love — and so he thinks he does. But if he will open his
eyes, he will find the serpent of presumption under a false
aspect, which plays the judge, judging in its own fashion, and
not according to the mysteries and the holy and diverse ways
in which God works with His creatures. Let human pride be

TO SANO DI MACO AND OTHER SONS 253

ashamed, and consent to see that in the House of the Eternal
Father are many mansions. Let it not seek to impose a rule
upon the Holy Spirit : for He is the Rule itself, Giver of the
Rule : nor let it measure Him who cannot be measured. The
true servant of God, arrayed in His highest eternal will,
will not do thus ; nay, he will hold in reverence the ways and
deeds and habits of God's servants, since he judges them fixed
not by man, but by God. For, just because things are not
pleasing to us and do not go according to our habits, we ought
to be predisposed to believe that they are pleasing to God.
We ought not to judge anything at all, nor can we, except
what is manifest and open sin. And even this the soul
enamoured of God and lost- to itself does not assume to judge,
except in displeasure for the sin and wrong done to God ;
and with great compassion for the soul of him who sins,
eagerly willing to give itself to any torture for the salvation
of that soul.

Now I summon you to this perfection, dearest sons ; do you
study with true and holy zeal to acquire it. And reflect that
every stage in perfection which you reach will advance you
in this holy and true judgment, free from offence or pain. So, .
on the contrary, false judgment betrays you into every sort
of pain, and fault-finding and ruinous faithlessness toward the
servants of God. All this proceeds from the personal passion
and rooted pride which impels us to judge the will of our
fellow-man. So such a man is always looking back, and does
not persevere in gracious love of his neighbour, and never has
strong and persevering love. Nay, his is like the imperfect
love felt by the disciples of Christ before the Passion ; for
they loved Him, rejoicing much in His presence ; but because
their love was not founded in truth, but pleasure and self-
indulgence were in it, it failed when His presence was taken
away ; and they did not know how to bear pain with Christ,
but fled in fear. Beware, beware, lest this happen to you.

254 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

You rejoice much in the presence of a friend, and in absence
you make a fire of straw ; for when the presence is taken
away, every little wind and rain quenches it, and nothing
remains except the black smoke of a dark conscience. All
this happens because we have made ourselves judges of the
will of our fellows, and the habits and ways of the servants
of God, not according to His sweet will. Now no more
thus, for love of Christ crucified ! but be faithful sons, strong
and persevering in Christ sweet Jesus. Thus shall you
discomfit the temptation of the devil, and the words which
he says, lighting on the lips of men.

Our last enemy — that is, our miserable flesh with its sense-
appetites — is overcome by the flesh of Christ, scourged and
nailed on the wood of the most holy Cross, by mastering
it with fast and vigil and continuous prayer, with burning
sweet and loving desire. Thus sweetly shall we conquer and
discomfit our foes by the power of the Blood of Christ.
Thus shall you fulfil His will and my desire, which
grieves when it beholds your imperfection. I hope by His
infinite goodness that He will console my desire in you.
Therefore I beg that you be not negligent, but zealous ; do
not shift about in the wind like a leaf, but be firm, stable,
and constant ; loving one another with true brotherly charity,
bearing one another's faults. By this I shall perceive whether
you love God and me, who desire naught but to see you
in true unity. Drown you in the Blood of Christ crucified
and hide you in His sweetest Wounds. I say no more.

Let the convent of Santa Maria degli Angeli be commended
to you. And never mind because I am not there, for good
sons do more when the mother is not present than when
she is, because they want to show the love they have for her,
and to enter more fully into her favour.

I beg you, Sano, to read this letter to all the children.
And do you all pray God for us, that He grant us to complete

TO SANO DI MACO AND OTHER SONS 255

what is begun to His honour and the salvation of souls ; for
we wish no other desire nor work, in despite of any who
may wish to hinder it. Remain in the holy and sweet grace
of God. May God fill you with His sweetest favour. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA
OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS

With all her longing to suffer for her faith, Catherine was only
once, so far as we know, exposed to physical violence. This
was on the occasion of which she is here speaking. She is
still in Florence, faithful under the new Pope as under the old
to her efforts to bring about the passionately desired peace,
In a tumult in the disordered city, it came to pass that her life
was threatened, and she took refuge with her " famiglia," in
a garden without the walls. Hither her enemies pursued her,
but as they drew near, fell back of a sudden, awestruck, as she
herself here tells us, by her words and bearing. The danger
was averted, and Catherine had met one of the disappointments
of her life.* There is an almost childlike simplicity in her
account of the inner side of the experience. Nothing could
be more genuine than her grief that the crown of martyrdom
was not granted her — few things more lovely than her con-
fiding account of the fine joys which the mere hope of
martyrdom, brief and frustrated though it were, awakened in
her spirit. Nor can she know even so supremely isolated an
experience without insisting that it be shared by those she
loves, and returning thanks for the great mercy which her
"dear sons and daughters" have received.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest father in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His

* As she herself expresses it, " The Eternal Bridegroom played a great joke on me.'

256

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 257

precious Blood : with desire to see you a faithful servant and
bridegroom of truth, and of sweet Mary, that we may never
look back for any reason in the world, nor for any tribulations
which God might send you : but with firm hope, with the
light of most holy faith, pass through this stormy sea in all
truthfulness ; and let us rejoice in endurance, not seeking our
own glory, but the glory of God and the salvation of souls,
as the glorious martyrs did, who for the sake of truth made
them ready for death and for all torments, so that with their
blood, shed for love of the Blood, they built the walls of
Holy Church. Ah, sweet Blood, that dost raise the dead !
Thou givest life, thou dost dissolve the shadows that darken
the minds of reasonable creatures, and dost give us light !
Sweet Blood, thou dost unite those who strive, thou dost
clothe the naked, thou dost feed the hungry and give to drink
to those who thirst for thee, and with the milk of thy sweet-
ness thou dost nourish the little ones who have made them-
selves small by true humility, and innocent by true purity.
Oh, holy Blood, who shall receive thee amiss ? The lovers
of themselves, because they do not perceive thy fragrance.

So, dearest and sweetest father, let us divest us and clothe l
us in truth, so we shall be faithful lovers. I tell you that to-
day I will to begin again, in order that my sins may not hold
me back from such a good as it is to give one's life for Christ
crucified. For I see that in the past, through my faults, this
has been denied me. I had desired very much, with a new
intensity, Increased in me beyond all custom, to endure with-
out fault for the honour of God and the salvation of souls and
the reformation and good of Holy Church, so that my heart
was melting from the love and desire I had to lay down my
life. This desire was blessed and grievous ; blessed it was
for the union that I felt with truth, and grievous it was for the
oppression which I felt from the wrong against God, and the
multitude of demons who overshadowed all the city, dimming
s

258 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

the eye of the mind in human beings. Almost it seemed that
God was letting them have their way, through justice and
divine discipline. Therefore my life could not but dissolve in
weeping, fearful for the great evil which seemed on the point
of coming, and because peace was hindered for this reason.
But in this great evil, God, who despises not the desire of His
servants, and that sweet mother Mary, whose name was
invoked with pained and dolorous and loving desires, granted
that in all the tumult and the great upheaval that occurred, we
may almost say that there were no human deaths, except those
which justice inflicted. So the desire I had that God would
show His providence and destroy the power of the demons
that they might not do so much harm as they were ready to do,
was fulfilled j but my desire to give my life for the Truth and
the sweet Bride of Christ was not fulfilled. But the Eternal
Bridegroom played a great joke on me, as Christopher will tell
you more fully by word of mouth. So I have reason to weep,
because the multitude of my iniquities was so great that I
did not deserve that my blood should give life, or illumine
darkened minds, or reconcile the sons with the father, or
cement a stone in the mystical body of Holy Church. Nay, it
seemed that the hands of him who wanted to kill me were
bound. My words, " I am she. Take me, and let this family
be," were a sword that pierced straight through his heart. O
Babbo mine, feel a wonderful joy in yourself, for I never
experienced in myself such mysteries, with so great joy !
There was the sweetness of truth in it, the gladness of a clean
and pure conscience ; there was the fragrance of the sweet
providence of God ; there was the savour of the times of new
martyrs, foretold as you know by the Eternal Truth. Tongue
would not suffice to tell how great the good is that my soul
feels. I seem to be so bound to my Creator that if I gave my
body to be burned I could not satisfy the great mercy which I
and my cherished sons and daughters have received.

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 259

All this I tell you that you may not conceive bitterness ;
but may feel an unspeakable delight, with softest gladness ;
and that you and I may begin to sorrow over my imperfection ,
because so great a good was hindered by my sin. How
blessed my soul would have been had I given my blood for the
sweet Bride, and for love of the Blood and the salvation of
souls ! Now let us rejoice and be faithful lovers.

I will not say more on this subject j I let Christopher tell
this and other things. Only I want to say this : do you pray
Christ on earth not to delay the peace because of what has
happened, but make it all the more promptly, so that then the
other great deeds may be wrought which he has to do for the
honour of God and the reformation of Holy Church. For
the condition of things has not been changed by this — nay, for
the present the city is pacified suitably enough. Pray him to
act swiftly ; and I ask him this in mercy, for infinite wrongs
against God which happen through the situation will thus be
put an end to. Tell him to have pity and compassion on these
souls which are in great darkness : and tell him to release me
from prison swiftly ; for unless peace is made it does not seem
as if I could get out ; and I would wish then to come where >
you are, to taste the blood of the martyrs, and to visit his
Holiness, and to find myself with you once more, telling of the
admirable mysteries which God has wrought at this time ; with
gladness of mind, and joyousness of heart, and increase of
hope, in the light of most holy faith. I say no more to you.
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love.

TO URBAN VI

By this time Catherine has evidently more than an inkling of
the character of the man she is addressing. Gregory had
been, if anything, only too susceptible to influences from
varying quarters : Urban's arbitrary and headstrong nature
resented any interference. He was making extraordinary
blunders in tact and policy ; but woe to the audacious person
who sought to point them out !

Catherine's letters to this new Pope, if less familiarly affec-
tionate than those to the old, show the same amazing combina-
tion of candour and reverence. True to her constant principles
in the interpretation of character, she insists on putting the
best possible construction on his actions, ascribing his im-
patient vehemence and bad temper to a noble and partially
impersonal cause. One suspects that Urban had lost his
temper with poor Fra Bartolomeo because the friar had used
too great freedom of speech rather than too little, as Catherine
suggests. Despite her generosity, however, she can rebuke
pungently enough, as this letter shows. On another occasion,
we find her sending to Urban a tangible allegory in the form of
bitter oranges, candied within and gilded without, doubtless
by her own hands, with a pretty letter to point the moral.
And again she wrote : " Mitigate a little, for the love of Christ
crucified, those sudden impulses which nature forces on you.
In holy virtue, throw nature aside. As God has given you a
great heart naturally, so I beg and want you to make it great
supernaturally : with zealous desire for virtue and the reform
of Holy Church, do you establish the manly heart you have
gained in true humility. In this way you will have both

260

TO URBAN VI 261

natural and supernatural gifts — for the one without the other
would avail little, but would rather inspire us with wrath and
pride : and when it came to correcting our intimates it would
slacken its pace and become cowardly."

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Most holy and sweet father in Christ sweet Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write to you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you
a true and royal ruler of your flock, whom you have to
nourish with the Blood of Christ crucified. Your Holiness
has to see to it with great diligence to whom you administer
that Blood, and by what means it is given ; that is, I say, most
holy father, that when shepherds are to be appointed in the
garden of Holy Church, let them be people who seek God,
and not benefices : and let the means of asking for the post
be such as act openly in the truth and not in falsehood.

Most holy father, have patience when you are talked to
about these things. For they are only said to you for the,
honour of God and for your salvation, as a son ought to speak
who loves his father tenderly, and cannot bear that anything
should be done which should turn to the loss or shame of his
father ; but watches constantly, with intent earnestness,
because he sees well that his father, who has to rule a large
family, can see no more than one man sees. So if his lawful
sons were not earnest in caring for his honour and welfare, he
would be deceived many a time and oft. So it stands, most
holy father. You are father and lord of the universal body
of the Christian religion ; we are all under the wings of your
Holiness : as to authority, you can do everything, but as to
seeing, you can do no more than one man ; so your sons must
of necessity watch and care with clean hearts and without
any servile fear over what may be for the honour of God

262 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

and the safety and honour of you and the flocks that are
beneath your crook. And I know that your Holiness is very
desirous of having people to help you ; but you must be
patient in listening to them.

I am certain that two things must give you pain and make
your mind angry, and I am not in the least surprised. The
one is that when you hear that sins are committed, it hurts you
that God should be wronged, for the wrong and the faults
displease you, and you experience a piercing of your heart.
In this case we ought not to be patient, or to refrain from
grieving over the wrongs that are shown to God. No ; for
so it would seem as if we conformed us to these same vices.
The other thing that might hurt you is when the son who
comes to tell you what he feels to be turning into wrong
against God and loss to souls and little honour to your holi-
ness, commits such ignorance that he conscientiously obliges
himself, in the presence of your Holiness, not to tell you
clearly the absolute truth as it is; for nothing should be secret
nor hidden from you.

I beg you, holy father, that when your ignorant son offends
in this point, your pain should be without any excitement on
your part : correct him in his ignorance. I say this, because
according to what Master Giovanni told me of Brother
Bartolomeo, he annoyed you and made you angry by his
faults and his scrupulous conscience ; for which he and I have
been extremely sorry, since he thought that he had offended
your Holiness. I beg you, by the love of Christ crucified, to
punish in me every pain that he may have given you j I am
ready for any discipline and correction which shall please your
Holiness. I believe that my sins were the reason why he
showed himself so ignorant, therefore I ought to bear the
penalty ; and he is very desirous to come penitently to you
wherever it might please your Holiness. Have patience to
bear his faults and mine. Bathe you in the Blood of Christ

TO URBAN VI 263

crucified ; comfort you in the sweet flame of His charity.
Pardon my ignorance.

I ask you humbly for your benediction. I thank the Divine
Goodness and your Holiness for the favour that you granted
me on the day of St. John. Remain in the holy and sweet
grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO DON GIOVANNI

OF THE CELLS OF VALLOMBROSA

Catherine has missed her chance at martyrdom. Schism is
threatening, and she knows it : "I seem to have heard that
discord is arising yonder between Christ on earth and his
disciples : from which thing I receive an intolerable grief. . . .
For everything else, like war, dishonour, and other tribula-
tions, would seem less than a straw or a shadow in comparison
with this. Think ! For I tremble only to think of it . . .
I tell you, it seemed as if my heart and life would leave their
body through grief." So she writes, out of trance, to the
Cardinal Pietro di Luna — himself destined to become later the
antipope Benedict XIII.

The present sorrowful letter is to a hermit who had sinned
violently in youth, and repented passionately through many
years of strictest discipline. Catherine pours out her heart
to him. The words in which Shelley's Fury drives home to
the agonizing Prometheus the apparent tragedy of existence
were fulfilled before her eyes :

" Hypocrisy and custom make their minds
The fanes of many a worship now outworn :

* * * *

The good want power but to weep barren tears,
The powerful goodness want — worse need for them :
The wise want love 5 and those who love want wisdom ;
And all best things are thus confused to ill."

With unflinching clear-sightedness she presents the situation,
turning in vain to every quarter whence help might come.
To the whole body of the priesthood ; to the timid monastic
orders ; to pious laymen honestly devout, yet touched by no

264

TO DON GIOVANNI 265

flame of sacrificial passion such as she felt might bring salva-
tion. It is never the sins of the world that most torture
Catherine : always, as here, the sins of the Church. She
does not pause till she comes to the terrible climax : "I see
the Christian religion lying like a dead man, and I neither
mourn nor weep over him." It is the very light of most holy
faith that has confused the vision of men. And again we
hear the familiar refrain, " I believe that my iniquities are the
cause of it."

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest father in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you an hungered for souls,
on the table of the most holy Cross, in company with the
humble and immaculate Lamb. I do not see, father, that this
sweet food can be eaten anywhere else. Why not ? Because
we cannot eat it truly without enduring much; it must be
eaten with the teeth of true patience and the lips of holy
desire, on the Cross of many tribulations, from whatsoever
side they may come — complaints, or the scandals in the
world ; and we must endure all things till death. Now is
the time, dearest father, to show whether we are lovers of
Christ crucified and rejoice in this food or not. It is time to
give honour to God and our toils to our neighbour: toils, I
say, of the body, with much endurance, and toils of the mind,
with grief and bitterness offering tears and sweats, humble
and continual prayer, and suffering desire, before God. For
I do not see that in any other way the wrath of God may be
pacified toward us, and His mercy inclined, and through His
mercy the many sheep recovered who are perishing in the hands
of devils, unless in the way I said, through great grief and
compassion of heart, and the very greatest devotion in prayer.

266 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

Therefore I invite you, dearest father, on behalf of Christ
crucified, to begin anew with me to lose ourselves, and to seek
only the honour of God in the salvation of souls, without any
slavish fear : never to slacken our steps either on account of
our sufferings, or in order to please our fellow-creatures, or
because we might have to bear death, or for any other
reason ; but let us run, as inebriate with love and grief over
the persecution that is wrought upon the Blood of Christ
crucified. For on whatever side we turn we see it persecuted.
If I turn me toward ourselves, rotten members that we are,
we are persecuting it with our many faults, and such stench
of mortal sins and empoisoned self-love as poisons the whole
world. And if I turn me to the ministers of the Blood of the
sweet and humble Lamb, my tongue cannot even narrate their
faults and sins. If I turn me to the ministers who are under
the yoke of obedience, I see them so imperfect — the accursed
root of self-love not being yet dead in them— that not one
has come to the point of wishing to give his life for Christ
crucified ; but they have encouraged fear of death and pain
rather than holy fear of God and reverence for the Blood.
And if I turn me to the secular people who have already
released their affections from the world, they have not
exercised virtue enough to leave the place where they were,
or suffer death rather than to do that which ought not to be
done. They have behaved so through imperfection, or else
they are doing so through prudence. If I had to teach them
prudence, I should advise them that if they wanted to reach
perfection they should rather choose death, and if they felt
themselves weak, they should flee the place and cause of sin,
just as far as we can. This same counsel, if any chance came
in your way, I should think that you and every servant of
God ought to give. For you know that it is never lawful for
us to commit a little sin in any way, surely not for fear of
suffering or death, since not even for accomplishing some

TO DON GIOVANNI 267

great good. So, then, on whatever side we turn us, we find
nothing but faults. For I do not doubt that if one single
person had had perfection enough to give his life, during
the events which have happened and are happening every day,
the Blood would have called for mercy, and bound the hands
of divine justice, and broken those Pharaoh-hearts which are
hard as diamond stone ; and I see no way in which they can
break other than through blood.

Ah me, ah me, misfortunate my soul ! I see the Christian
religion lying a dead man, and I neither weep nor mourn over
him. I see darkness invading the light, for by the very light
of most holy faith, received in the Blood of Christ, I see
men's sight become confused and the pupil of their eye dried
up ; so that we see them fall as blind men into the ditch, into
the mouth of the wolf of Hell, stripped of virtue and dead
by cold ; being stripped of the love of God and their
neighbour, and released from the bond of love, and lost to all
reverence for God and for the Blood. Ah me ! I believe that
my iniquities have been the cause of it.

So I beg you, dearest father, to pray God for me, that He
take from me so great iniquities, and that I be not the cause
of so great ill : or may He give me death. And I beg you
to lift these sons of ours as dead up to the table of the most
holy Cross, and there do you eat this food, bathed in the
Blood of Christ crucified. I tell you that if you and the
other servants of God, and all of us, do not persuade ourselves
with many prayers, and others, to correct themselves of evils
so great, divine judgment will come, and divine justice will
draw forth its rod. Indeed, if we open our eyes, one of the
greatest judgments that we can know in this life is already
befallen — that is, that we are deprived of light, and do not see
the loss and ill of soul and body. He who does not see
cannot correct himself, because he does not hate evil or love
true good. So, not correcting himself, he falls from bad to

268 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

worse. So it seems to me that we are doing, and we are at
a worse point now than the first day. It is essential, then, that
we should never stop, if we are true servants of God, in our
much endurance and true patience, and in giving our toils to
our neighbour, and honour to God, with many prayers and
grieving desire ; let sighs be food to us and tears our drink,
upon the table of the Cross ; for another way I do not see.
Therefore I said to you that I desired to see you an hungered
for souls upon the table of the most holy Cross.

I beg that your and my dearest sons be commended to you—
those yonder, and those here. Nourish them and make them
grow in great perfection, so far as your power goes. And
let us strive to run, dead to all self-will, spiritual and
temporal ; that is, not seeking our own spiritual consolations,
but only the food of souls, rejoicing in the Cross with Christ
crucified ; and giving our life, if need be, for the glory
and praise of His Name. I for my part die and cannot die,
hearing and seeing the insults to my Lord and Creator ; there-
fore I ask an alms from you, that you pray God for me, you
and the others. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy
and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

LETTERS ANNOUNCING PEACE

Amid the horrors which darkened Europe during her last
years, one episode of pure joy was vouchsafed to Catherine.
The decisiveness of Urban brought to an end the vacillating
negotiations of the Papal See with the Florentines, and peace
was proclaimed at last.

The first of these notes announces the first step toward
a satisfactory end — the observance of the Interdict, placed
by Gregory upon the city, and contumaciously broken by the
rebels. In the second, the news of the establishment of peace
has just been brought. Catherine's first impulse is to bid
the friends at home rejoice with her in news great in itself,
and greater because it may clear the way for the realization
of wider hopes. It is noteworthy that the instant the end for
which she has long been straining is achieved, her loyal and
aspiring spirit reverts to her old dreams, and summons her
companions to resume prayer for a Crusade.

The arrival of the olive of peace, of which Catherine sends
a portion to her friends, is the fit close to the long drama
which had opened when Christ placed the Cross on her
shoulder and the olive in her hand, and sent her to bear
His command of reconciliation " to one and to the other
people."

269

TO MONNA ALESSA
WHEN THE SAINT WAS AT FLORENCE

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary ;

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee
in His precious Blood : with desire to see thee and the others
brides and faithful servants of Christ crucified, that you
may constantly renew your wailing for the honour of God,
the salvation of souls, and the reform of Holy Church. Now
is the time for you to shut yourselves within self-knowledge,
with continual vigil and prayer that the sun may soon rise ;
for the aurora has begun to dawn. The aurora has come
in that the dusk of great mortal sins which were committed
in the office being said and heard publicly, is now scattered,
despite whoso would have hindered : and the interdict is
observed. Thanks, thanks be to our sweet Saviour, who
despises not humble prayer, nor the tears and burning desires
of His servants ! Since, then, He despises them not, nay, but
accepts them, I summon you to pray and to have prayer
offered to the Divine Goodness that He send us peace swiftly ;
that God may be glorified and so great an evil ended, and
that we may find ourselves united, to tell the wonderful things
of God.

Up ! And sleep no more ! Awaken, all of you, from the
sleep of negligence ! Have special prayers offered at such
and such monasteries, and tell our Prioress to have all those

270

TO MONNA ALESSA 271

daughters of hers offer special prayers for peace, that God
may show mercy on us, and that I may not return without
it. And for me, her poor daughter, that God will give me
grace ever to love and to proclaim the truth, and that for
that truth I may die. I say no more. Remain in the holy
and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO SANO DI MACO AND TO

THE OTHER SONS IN CHRIST

WHILE SHE WAS IN FLORENCE

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you true sons, really
serving our sweet Saviour, that you may give more zealously
thanks and praise to His name.

Oh, dearest sons, God has heard the cry of His servants,
who for so long have cried aloud before His face, and
the lamentable cry which they have raised so long over
the sons who were dead. Now are they risen again — from
death they have come to life, and from blindness to light.
Dearest sons, the lame walk, and the deaf hear, the blind eye
sees and the dumb speak, crying aloud with a loud voice :
" Peace, peace, peace ! " with great gladness — seeing them-
selves return as sons into the obedience and favour of their
father, their minds being reconciled. As people who now
begin to see, they say : " Thanks be to Thee, Lord, who
hast reconciled us with our holy father." Now the Lamb
of God, sweet Christ on earth, is called holy, while before
he was called a heretic and a Patarin. Now they receive
him for a father, where before they refused him. I do
not wonder, for the cloud is passed, and fair weather has
come. Rejoice, rejoice, dearest sons, with very sweet weep-
ing for thanksgiving, before the Highest Eternal Father, not

272

TO SANO DI MACO AND OTHER SONS 273

calling yourselves content with this, but praying Him that
soon may be raised the gonfalon of the most holy Cross.
Rejoice, exult, in Christ sweet Jesus ; let our hearts break,
seeing the largess of the infinite goodness of God. Now
peace is made, despite him who would hinder it. Dis-
comfited is the devil of hell.

Saturday evening one olive came at one o'clock at night ;
and to-day at vespers came the other. And Saturday evening
that friend of ours was caught with a companion, so that at
one time heresy was thoroughly put an end to and peace came ;
now he is in prison. Pray God for him, that He give him true
light and knowledge. Drown you and bathe you in the Blood
of Christ crucified. Love, love one another. I send you some
of the olive of peace. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of
God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO THREE ITALIAN CARDINALS

Catherine had ardently wished to see in the Seat of Peter
a reformer, who should have courage to apply surgery to the
festering wounds of the Church. She had her desire ; Urban
began at once a drastic policy of Church reform. But his
domineering asperity proved unbearable to the College of
Cardinals, and schism broke upon a horrified world.

This was the situation : — After the death of Gregory, the
cardinals, of whom a large majority were French, when
assembled in conclave in what was to them the barbarous city
of Rome, had been terrified by the shouts of the populace
demanding a Roman, or at least an Italian, for Pope. Resort-
ing to stratagem, they reported as their choice the old Roman
cardinal of San Pietro, who repudiated the false rumour with
distress. Meantime, agreeing on compromise and finding a
"dark horse," the Sacred College elected with all due solemnity
the Archbishop of Bari, and by the usual formalities notified
the Christian world of the election. They soon, as has been
said, rebelled against the man of their choice, and, announcing
that the election had been invalid because occasioned by fear,
proceeded to appoint an antipope — Robert of Geneva, a
man of personal charm but of evil life, known in history as
Clement VII. The impudence of the reasons alleged by the
cardinals for their action is well pointed out by Catherine. But
Europe became divided in its allegiance, and war of words was
soon followed by war of swords.

Catherine rose to the occasion. The rest of her tempestuous
life was spent in the desperate defence of the cause of Urban
— a man whom she rightly believed to be the lawful successor

274

TO THREE ITALIAN CARDINALS 275

of Peter, yet concerning whose unlovely character she was, as
we have already seen, under no illusions. The many letters
which she wrote with the aim of convincing important person-
ages of the validity of Urban's claims, are historical documents
of high value. One feels in them all the amazement with
which a woman whose native air was the mystical conception
of an infallible Church, faced the realities of the ecclesiastical
machine. But loyalty stood the test, and while never leaving
the highest ground, Catherine proved herself capable of a
statesmanlike treatment of the actual situation. The present
letter is addressed to the three Italian members of the Sacred
College, who, after holding at first by their countryman, were
induced by the Frenchmen to betray him : it is a tissue of
telling and convincing representations, interwoven with indig-
nant rebuke and eloquent pleadings.

This was not the first time that a great Italian patriot had
remonstrated with the churchmen of Italy. Catherine's lette
invites inevitable comparison with that noble letter to Italian
cardinals written by Dante on the occasion of the impending
papal election that followed the death of Clement V, Dante,
like Catherine, appealed to the cardinals on behalf of Rome
and Italy : his plea, that they put an end to the Babylonian
Captivity in Avignon and return to the Seat of Peter. That
letter marked an early stage in the disgraceful abandonment of
the Holy City ; this of Catherine treats of the outcome of that
great wrong. " Yet the wound will be healed," wrote Dante ;
" (though it cannot be otherwise than that the scar and brand
of infamy will have burned with fire upon the Apostolic See
and will disfigure her for whom heaven and earth had been
reserved) — if ye who were the authors of this transgression
will all with one accord fight manfully for the Bride of Christ,
for the Throne of the Bride which is Rome, for our Italy,
and that I may speak more fully, for the whole common-
wealth of pilgrims upon this earth. . . ." Over sixty years

276 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

had passed since Dante wrote thus ; they had been years of
sin and shame. The words of Catherine, as she confronts
a situation yet darker than he had faced, breathe a less assured
courage. But her patriotism and her Christianity are of like
temper with his own.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest brothers and fathers in Christ sweet Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write to you in His precious Blood : with desire to see you turn
back to the true and most perfect light, leaving the deep
shadows of blindness into which you are fallen. Then you
shall be fathers to me ; otherwise not. Yes, indeed, I call
you fathers in so far as you shall leave death and turn back to
life (for, as things go now, you are parted from the life of
grace, limbs cut off from your head from which you drew
life), when you shall stand united in faith, and in that perfect
obedience to Pope Urban VI., in which those abide who have
the light, and in light know the truth, and knowing it love it.
For the thing that is not seen cannot be known, and he who
knows not loves not, and he who loves not and fears not his
Creator loves himself with fleshly love, and whatever he
loves, joys or honours and dignities of the world, he loves
according to the flesh. Since man is created through love, he
cannot live without love ; either he loves God, or he loves
himself and the world with the love that kills, fastening the
eye of his mind darkened by self-love on those transitory
things that pass like the wind. In this state he can recognize
no truth nor goodness ; he recognizes naught but falsehood,
because he has not light. For truly had he the light, he
would recognize that from such a love as this naught can
result but pain and eternal death. It gives him a foretaste of

TO THREE ITALIAN CARDINALS 277

hell in this life ; for he who immoderately loves himself and
the things of this world, becomes unendurable to himself.

Oh, human blindness ! Seest thou not, unfortunate man,
that thou thinkest to love things firm and stable, joyous
things, good and fair ? and they are mutable, the sum of
wretchedness, hideous, and without any goodness ; not as they
are created things in themselves, since all are created by God,
who is perfectly good, but through the nature of him who
possesses them intemperately. How mutable are the riches
and honours of the world in him who possesses them without
God, without the fear of Him ! for to-day is he rich and
great, and to-day he is poor. How hideous is our bodily life,
that living we shed stench from every part of our body !
Simply a sack of dung, the food for worms, the food of death !
Our life and the beauty of youth pass by, like the beauty of
the flower when it is gathered from the plant. There is none
who can save this beauty, none who can preserve it, that it
be not taken, when it shall please the highest Judge to gather
this flower of life by death ; and none knows when.

Oh, wretched man, the darkness of self-love does not let
thee know this truth. For didst thou know it, thou wouldst'
choose any pain rather than guide thy life in this way ; thou
wouldst give thee to loving and desiring Him who Is ; thou
wouldst enjoy His truth in firmness, and wouldst not move
about like a leaf in the wind ; thou wouldst serve thy Creator,
and wouldst love everything in Him, and apart from Him
nothing. Oh, how will this blindness be reproved at the last
moment in every rational being, and much the more in those
whom God has taken from the filth of the world, and
assigned to the greatest excellence that can be, having made
them ministers of the Blood of the humble and spotless
Lamb ! Oh me, oh me ! what have you come to by not having
followed up your dignities with virtue ? You were placed to
nourish you at the breasts of Holy Church ; you were flowers

278 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

planted to breathe forth the fragrance of virtue in that garden ;
you were placed as masts to strengthen this ship, and the
Vicar of Christ on earth ; you were placed as lights in a
candlestick, to give light to faithful Christians, and to spread
the faith. Well you know if you have done that for which
you were created. Surely no ; for self-love has prevented you
from knowing that in truth alone, to fortify men and give a
shining example of good and holy life, you were put in this
garden. Had you known this you would have loved it, and
clothed you in that sweet truth. Where is the gratitude
which you ought to have for the Bride who has nourished you
at her breast ? I see in us naught but such ingratitude as
dries up the fountain of pity. What shows me that you are
ungrateful, coarse, and mercenary ? The persecution which
you, together with others, are inflicting on that sweet Bride, at
a time when you ought to be shields, to ward off the blows of
heresy. In spite of which, you clearly know the truth, that
Pope Urban VI. is truly Pope, the highest Pontiff, chosen in
orderly election, not influenced by fear, truly rather by divine
inspiration than by your human industry. And so you an-
nounced it to us, which was the truth. Now you have turned
your backs, like poor mean knights ; your shadow has made
you afraid. You have divided you from the truth which
strengthens us, and drawn close to falsehood, which weakens
soul and body, depriving you of temporal and spiritual grace.
What made you do this ? The poison of self-love, which
has infected the world. That is what has made you pillars
lighter than straw. Flowers you who shed no perfume, but
stench that makes the whole world reek ! No lights you
placed in a candlestick, that you might spread the faith ; but,
having hidden your light under the bushel of pride, and
become not extenders, but contaminators of the faith, you
shed darkness over yourselves and others. You should have
been angels on earth, placed to release us from the devils of

TO THREE ITALIAN CARDINALS 279

hell, and performing the office of angels, by bringing back
the sheep into the obedience of Holy Church, and you have
taken the office of devils. That evil which you have in your-
selves you wish to infect us with, withdrawing us from
obedience to Christ on earth, and leading us into obedience to
antichrist, a member of the devil, as you are too, so long as
you shall abide in this heresy.

This is not the kind of blindness that springs from ignor-
ance. It has not happened to you because people have reported
one thing to you while another is so. No, for you know
what the truth is : it was you who announced it to us, and not
we to you. Oh, how mad you are ! For you told us the
truth, and you want yourselves to taste a lie ! Now you want
to corrupt this truth, and make us see the opposite, saying
that you chose Pope Urban from fear, which is not so ; but
anyone who says it — speaking to you without reverence,
because you have deprived yourselves of reverence — lies up
to his eyes. For it is evident to anyone who wished to see,
who it is that you presented as your choice through fear — that
was Messer di Santo Pietro. You might say to me, " Why do
you not believe us ? We know the truth as to whom we ,
chose better than you." And I reply, that you yourselves
have shown me that you deserted the truth in many ways, so
that I ought not to believe you, that Pope Urban VI. is not
the true Pope. If I turn to the beginnings of your life, I do
not recognize in you so good and holy a life that you would
shrink from a lie for conscience' sake. What shows me that
your life is badly governed ? The poison of heresy. If I
turn to the election ordained by your lips, we knew that you
chose him canonically and not through fear. We have already
said that he whom you presented to the people through fear
was Messer di Santo Pietro. What proves to me the regular
election with which you chose Messer Bartolommeo, Arch-
bishop of Bari, who to-day is made in truth Pope Urban VI. ?

28o LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

In the solemnity with which his coronation was observed, this
truth is clear to us. That the solemnity was carried out in
good faith is shown by the reverence which you gave him and
the favours asked from him, which you have used in all sorts
of ways. You cannot deny this truth except with plain lies.

Ah, foolish men, worthy of a thousand deaths ! As blind,
you do not see your own wrong, and have fallen into such con-
fusion that you make of your own selves liars and idolaters.
For even were it true (which it is not ; nay, I assert again that
Pope Urban VI. is the true Pope), but were it true what you
say, would you not have lied to us when you told us that he
was the highest pontiff, as he is ? And would you not falsely
have shown him reverence, adoring him for Christ on earth ?
And would you not have practised simony, in trying for favours
and using them unlawfully ? Yes, indeed. Now they, and
you with them, have made an antipope, as far as your action
and outward appearance go, since you consented to remain on
the spot, when the incarnate demons chose the demon !

You might say to me : " No, we did not choose him."
I do not know how I can believe that. For I do not believe
that you could have borne to stay there otherwise, had you
given your life for it ; at least the fact that you suppressed the
truth, and did not burst out with it — for this would not have
been within your power — makes me inclined to think so.
Although, perhaps, you did less wrong than the others in
your intention, yet you did do wrong with all the rest. What
can I say? I can say that he who is not for the truth is
against the truth ; he who was not at that time for Christ on
earth, Pope Urban VI., was against him. Therefore I tell
you that you did wrong, with the antipope : and I may say
that he was chosen a member of the devil ; for had he been
a member of Christ, he would have chosen death rather than
consent to so great an evil, for he well knows the truth, and
cannot excuse himself through ignorance. Now you have

TO THREE ITALIAN CARDINALS 281

committed all these faults in regard to this devil : that is, to
confess him as Pope, which he surely is not, and to show
reverence to whom you should not. You have deserted the
light, and gone into darkness : the truth, and joined you to
a lie. On what side soever, I find nothing but lies. You
are worthy of torture, which, I tell you in truth and un-
burden my conscience thereof, unless you return to obedience
with true humility, will fall upon you.

O misery upon misery, and blindness upon blindness, which
does not let its wrong be seen nor the loss to soul and body !
For had you seen it, you would not have deserted the truth so
lightly, in servile fear, passionate all, like proud people and
arbitrary, accustomed to pleasant and soft dealings from men !
You could not endure, not only an actual correction indeed,
but even a harsh word of reproof made you lift up rebellious
heads. This is the reason why you changed. And it clearly
reveals the truth to us ; for, before Christ on earth began to
sting you, you confessed him and reverenced him as the Vicar
of Christ that he is. But this last fruit that you bear, which
brings forth death, shows what kind of trees you are ; and that
your tree is planted in the earth of pride, which springs from
the self-love that robs you of the light of reason.

Oh me, no more thus for the love of God ! Take refuge
in humbling you beneath the mighty hand of God, in obedi-
ence to His Vicar, while you have time ; for when the time is
passed there will be no more help for us. Recognize your
faults, that you may be humble, and know the infinite goodness
of God, who has not commanded the earth to swallow you up,
nor beasts to devour you ; nay, but has given you time, that
you may correct your soul. But if you shall not recognize
this, what He has given you as a grace shall turn to your great
judgment. But if you will return to the fold, and feed in
truth at the breast of the Bride of Christ, you shall be received
in mercy, by Christ in heaven and by Christ on earth, despite

282 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

the iniquity you have wrought. I beg that you delay no more,
nor kick against the prick of conscience that I know is per-
petually stabbing you. And let not confusion of mind, over
the evil that you have wrought, so overcome you, that you
abandon your salvation in weariness and despair, as seeming
unable to find help. Not so must you do ; but in living faith,
hold firm hope in your Creator, and return humbly to your
yoke ; for the last sin of obstinacy and despair would be the
worst, and most hateful to God and the world. Arise, then,
into the light ! For without light you would walk in darkness,
as you have done up to now.

My soul considering this, that we can neither know nor love
the truth without light, I said and say that I desire intensely to
see you arisen from darkness, and one with the light. This
desire reaches out to all rational beings, but much more to you
three, concerning whom I have had the greatest sorrow, and
marvel more at your fault than at all the others who have
shared it. For did all desert their father, you should have been
such sons as strengthened the father, showing the truth.
Notwithstanding that the father might have treated you with
nothing but reproof, you ought not therefore to have assumed
the lead, denying his holiness in any way. Speaking entirely
in the natural sense — for according to virtue we ought all to
be equal — speaking humanly, Christ on earth being an Italian,
and you Italian, I see no reason but self-love why passion for
your country could not move you as it did the Ultramontanes.
Cast it to earth now, and do not wait for time, since time does
not wait for you — trampling such selfishness underfoot, with
hate of vice and love of virtue.

Return, return, and wait not for the rod of justice, since
we cannot escape the hands of God ! We are in His hands
either by justice or by mercy j better it is for us to recognize
our faults and to abide in the hands of mercy, than to remain
in fault and in the hands of justice. For our faults do not pass

TO THREE ITALIAN CARDINALS 283

unpunished, especially those that are wrought against Holy
Church. But I wish to bind myself to bear you before God
with tears and continual prayer, and to bear with you your
penitence, provided that you choose to return to your father,
who like a true father awaits you with the open wings of
mercy. Oh me, oh me, avoid and flee it not, but humbly
receive it, and do not believe evil counsellors who have given
you over to death ! Oh me, sweet brothers ! Sweet brothers
and fathers you shall be to me, in so far as you draw close to
truth. Make no more resistance to the tears and sweats which
the servants of God shed for you, but wash you in them from
head to foot. For did you despise them, and the eager sweet
and grieving desires which are offered by them for you, you
would receive much greater rebuke. Fear God, and His true
judgment. I hope by His infinite goodness that He will fulfil
in you the desire of His servants.

Let it not seem hard to you if I pierce you with the words
which the love of your salvation has made me write ; rather
would I pierce you with my living voice, did God permit me.
His will be done. And yet you deserve rather deeds than
words. I come to an end, and say no more ; for did I follow
my will I should not yet pause, so full is my soul of grief and
sorrow to see such blindness in those who were placed for
a light: no lambs they, who feed on the food of the honour of
God and the salvation of souls, and the reform of Holy Church ;
but as thieves they steal the honour which they ought to give
to God, and give it to themselves, and as wolves they devour
the sheep, so that I have great bitterness. I beg you by love
of that precious Blood shed with such fiery love for you, that
you give refreshment to my soul, which seeks your salvation.
I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of
God : bathe you in the Blood of the Spotless Lamb, where
you shall lose all servile fear, and enlightened, you shall abide
in holy fear. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO GIOVANNA QUEEN OF NAPLES

Giovanna of Naples was one of the most depraved, as well as
one of the most romantic, figures of her time, In fascination,
as in evil, she anticipates the type of the women of the
renascence. Her many crimes had never prevented Catherine
Benincasa from yearning over her with a peculiar tenderness,
and we have many letters written by the daughter of the dyer
of Siena to the great Neapolitan queen. Some of the earlier
among these letters seem, curiously enough, not to have been
without effect ; for Giovanna not only replied to them, but
gave her promise to join in a Crusade.

Now that the Great Schism had broken forth, the adhesion
of Giovanna to the cause of Urban, who was politically
her subject, was of prime importance ; and Catherine wrote
her about the matter, not once, but many times. In her
varied correspondence at this period, these letters have a
peculiar interest, from the passionate personal feeling which
pervades them. It is not only for the sake of the truth that
Catherine pleads and argues, but for the sake of Giovanna's
salvation ; one would think that even the hardened old Queen
must have been touched with the intense and tender solicitude
of the following letter, even if she were not convinced by its
irrefutable reasoning. As a matter of fact, Giovanna, after
having for a time sided with Clement, did temporarily change
her base and espouse the cause of Urban. Soon, however,
she reverted to her former position. It is probable that
for her, as for many European sovereigns, the matter was
decided by considerations with which the naif question of
the legitimacy of a papal election had little or nothing to do.

284

TO GIOVANNA QUEEN OF NAPLES 285

Dearest mother in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you grounded in the truth
which we must know and love for our salvation. He who
shall be grounded in the knowledge of the Truth, Christ
sweet Jesus, shall win and enjoy peace and quiet of soul,
in the ardour of that charity which receives the soul into this
knowledge.

We should know this truth in two chief ways — although it
befits us to know it in everything — that is, everything which
exists should love itself in God and through God, who
is Truth itself, and there is nothing without Him ; otherwise
it would escape from truth and would walk in falsehood,
following the devil, who is the father thereof. I was saying
that we ought to recognize truth especially in two ways.
The first is, we should recognise the truth about God. He
loves us unspeakably, and loved us before we were ; nay,
by love He created us — this was and is the truth — in order
that we might have life eternal and enjoy His highest eternal
good. What shows us that this is truly so ? The Blood,
shed for us with such fire of love. In the sweet Blood
of the Word, the Son of God, we shall know the truth of
His doctrine, which gives life and light, scattering every
shadow of fleshly love and human self-indulgence, but know-
ing and following with pure heart the doctrine of Christ
crucified, which is grounded in the truth. The second and
last way is, that we ought to recognize the truth about our
neighbour, whether he be great or humble, subject or lord.
That is, when we see that men are doing some deed in which
we might invite our neighbour to join, we ought to perceive
whether it is grounded in truth or not, and what foundation
he has who is impelled to do this deed. He who does not do

286 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

this, acts as one mad and blind, who follows a blind guide,
grounded in falsehood, and shows that he has no truth
in himself, and therefore seeks not the truth. Sometimes
it happens that people are so insane and brutal that they see
themselves lose through such a deed the life of soul and body
and their temporal possessions ; and they do not care, for they
are blinded, and do not know what they ought to know ; they
walk in darkness, with a feminine nature that lacks any firm-
ness or stability.

Dearest mother, — in so far as you are a lover of truth
and obedient to Holy Church I call you mother, but in no
otherwise, nor do I speak to you with reverence, because
I see a great change in your person. You who were a lady
have made yourself a servant, and slave of that which is not,
having submitted yourself to falsehood, and to the devil, who
is its father ; abandoning the counsels of the Holy Spirit
and accepting the counsels of incarnate demons. You who
were a branch of the true vine, have cut yourself off from
it with the knife of self-love. You who were a legitimate
daughter, tenderly beloved of her father, the Vicar of Christ
on earth, Pope Urban VI., who is really the Pope the highest
pontiff, have divided yourself from the bosom of your mother,
Holy Church, where for so long a time you have been
nourished. Oh me ! oh me ! one can mourn over you as
over a dead woman, cast off from the life of grace ; dead
in soul and dead in body, if you do not escape from such
an error. It appears that you have not known God's truth in
the way I spoke of; for had you known it, you would have
chosen death rather than to offend God mortally. Nor have
you known truth about your neighbour ; but in great ignor-
ance, moved by your own passion, you have followed the
most miserable and insulting counsel — having acted accord-
ing to it — that I ever heard of. What greater shame can
be incurred than that one who was a Christian, held to be

TO GIOVANNA QUEEN OF NAPLES 287

a Catholic and virtuous woman, should act like a Christian
who denies her faith, and depart from good and holy customs
and the due reverence she has observed ? Oh me ! open the
eye of your mind, and sleep no more in so great misery. Do
not await the moment of death — after which it will not help
you to make excuses, nor to say : "I thought to do good."
For you know that you do ill, but like a sick and passionate
woman, you let yourself be guided by your passions.

I am quite sure that the counsel came from someone beside
yourself. Will, will to know the truth ; who those men are,
and why they make you see falsehood for truth, saying
that Pope Urban VI. is not true Pope, and making you
consider that the antipope, who is simply an antichrist,
member of the devil, is Christ on earth. With what truth
can they say that to you ? Not with any ; but they say it with
entire falsity, lying over their heads. What can those
iniquitous men say ? — not men, but incarnate demons — since,
on whatever side they turn, they must see that they have done
nothing but ill. Even were it true- — as it is not — that Pope
Urban VI. was not the Pope, they would merit a thousand
deaths for this alone, as liars discovered in their untruth ; for
had they chosen him through fear in the beginning, and
not honestly with a regular election, and had presented him
to us as a true Pope, see ! they would have shown us a lie for
truth, making us, and themselves at the same time, obey
and reverence him whom we ought not. For they did do him
reverence, and asked favours from him, and profited by them,
as if they came from the highest pontiff, as they did. I say,
that were it true that he was not the Pope — (which is not the
case, by the great goodness of God, who has had mercy
upon us) — for this reason alone they could not be too severely
disciplined ; but they deserve a thousand thousand deaths
to pretend that they elected the Pope through fear, when
it was not so. But they cannot speak the truth, being men

288 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

founded in falsehood, for they cannot so hide it that its dark-
ness and stench cannot be seen and felt. What they pretended
is perfectly true : they did elect a Pope through fear after
they had elected the true Pope, Messer Bartolomeo, Arch-
bishop of Bari, who to-day is Pope Urban VI. : that was,
Messer di Santo Pietro. But he, like a good man and just,
confessed that he was not the Pope, but Messer Bartolomeo,
Archbishop of Bari, who to-day is called Pope Urban VI.,
and revered by faithful Christians as highest pontiff and most
just man, despite wicked men — not Christians, for they bear
the name of Christ neither on their lips nor on their heart
— but infidels who have deserted the faith and obedience
of Holy Church and the Vicar of Christ on earth, branches
cut off from the True Vine, sowers of schism and of greatest
heresy.

Open, open the eye of your mind, and sleep no more in
such blindness. You should not be so ignorant nor so
separated from the true light as not to know the wicked life,
with no fear of God, of those who have led you into so great
heresy : for the fruits which they bear show you what kinds
of trees they are. Their life shows you that they do not tell
the truth ; so do the counsellors they have about them, with-
out and within, who may be men of knowledge, but they are
not men of virtue, nor men whose life is praiseworthy, but
rather to be blamed for many faults. Where is the just man
whom they have chosen for antipope, if indeed our highest
pontiff, Pope Urban VI., were not the true Vicar of Christ ?
What man have they chosen ? A man of holy life ? No,
but an iniquitous man, a demon — and therefore he does the
works of demons. The devil exerts himself to withdraw us
from the truth, and he does the very same thing. Why did
they not choose a just man ? BecAuse they knew well
enough that a just man would have chosen death rather than
to have accepted the papacy, since he would have seen no

TO GIOVANNA QUEEN OF NAPLES 289

colour of truth in them. Therefore the demons took the
demon, and the liars the lie. All these things show that Pope
Urban VI. is truly Pope, and that they are without truth,
lovers of the lie.

If you said to me, " My mind is not clear as to all these
things," why do you not at least stay neutral ? although it is
as clear as can possibly be said. And if you are not willing
to help the Pope with your temporal substance until you have
more illumination— (help which you are in duty bound to give,
because the sons ought to help the father when he is in need)
— at least obey him in spiritual things, and in other things
remain neutral. But you are behaving like a passionate
woman ; and hate, and spite, and the fear of losing him of
whom you deprived yourself, which you caught from a
cursed teller of tales, has robbed us of light and knowledge ;
for you do not know the truth, obstinately persevering in this
evil ; and in this obstinacy you do not see the judgment which
is coming upon you.

Oh me ! I say these words with heartfelt grief, because
I tenderly love your salvation. If you do not change your
ways, and correct your life, by abandoning this great error,
and in regard to everything else, the highest Judge, who does
not let sins pass unpunished unless the soul purifies them with
contrition of heart and confession and satisfaction, will give
you such a punishment that you will become a signal instance
to cause anyone to tremble who should ever lift his head
against the Holy Church. Wait not for this rod ; for it will
be hard for you to kick against the divine justice. You are
to die, and know not when. Not riches, nor position, how-
ever great, nor worldly dignity, nor barons, nor people who
are your subjects as to the body, shall be able to defend you
before the highest Judge, nor hinder the divine justice. But
sometimes God works through rascally men, in order that
they may execute justice on His enemy- You have invited
u

290 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

and invite the people and all your subjects to be rather against
you than with you ; for they have found little truth in your
character — not the quality of a man with virile heart, but
that of a woman without any firmness or stability, a woman
who changes like a leaf in the wind.

They have well in mind that when Pope Urban VI. , true
Pope, was created by a great and true election, and crowned
with great solemnity, you held a great and high festival, as
the child should do over the exaltation of the father, and the
mother over that of the son. For he was both son and father
to you; father, through his dignity to which he had come,
son because he was your subject— that is to say, of your king-
dom Therefore you did well. Further, you commanded
everyone to obey his Holiness as the highest pontiff. Now
I see that you have turned about, like a woman who has no
decision, and you will them to do the contrary. Oh, miserable
passion ! That evil which you have in yourself you wish to
impart to them. How do you suppose that they can love you
and be faithful to you, when they see that you are responsible
for separating them from life and leading them into death, and
casting them from truth into falsehood ? You separate them
from Christ in heaven and from Christ on earth, and seek to
bind them to the devil, and to antichrist — lover and prophet of
lies that he is, he and you and the others who follow him.

No more thus for the love of Christ crucified ! You are
in every way calling down the divine judgment. I grieve for
it. If you do not hinder the ruin that is coming upon you,
you cannot escape from the hands of God. Either by justice
or by mercy, you are in His hands. Correct your life, that
you may escape the hands of justice, and remain in those of
mercy. And do not wait for the time, for an hour comes
when you shall wish and cannot. O sheep, return to your
fold ; let you be governed by the Shepherd : else the wolf
of hell shall devour you ! Take back for your guards the

TO GIOVANNA QUEEN OF NAPLES 291

servants of God, who love you in truth more than you your-
self, and good, mature and discreet counsellors. For the
counsel of incarnate demons, with the inordinate fear into
which they have thrown you through terror of losing your
temporal state — (which passes like the wind with no per-
manence, for either it leaves us, or we it through death) — has
brought you where you are. You shall yet weep, if you
change not your ways, saying : " Alas, alas ! I am one who
has robbed herself, on account of the fear into which I was
thrown by villainous counsellors ! " But there is yet time,
dearest mother, to avert the judgment of God. Return to
the obedience of Holy Church : know the ill that you have
wrought : humble you under the mighty hand of God ; and
God, who has regard to the humility of His handmaid, shall
show mercy upon us : He will placate His wrath over your
faults j through the mediation of the Blood of Christ, you
shall be grafted and bound in Him with the chain of that
charity in which you shall know and love the truth. The
truth shall set you free from lie : it shall scatter all shadows,
giving you light and knowledge in the mercy of God. In
this truth you shall be freed ; in other wise, never.

And because the truth sets us free, I, having desire for your
salvation, said that I desired to see you established in the
truth, that it be not wronged by falsehood. I beg you, fulfil
in yourself the will of God and the desire of my soul, for
with all the depth and all the strength of my soul I desire
your salvation. And, therefore, constrained by the Divine
Goodness which loves you unspeakably, I have moved me to
write to you with great sorrow. Another time, also, I wrote
you on this same matter. Have patience if I burden you too
much with words, and if I speak with you boldly, irreverently.
The love which I bear to you makes me speak with boldness :
the fault which you have committed makes me depart from due
reverence, and speak irreverently. I could wish far rather to

292 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

tell you the truth by speech than by writing, for your salvation,
and chiefly for the honour of God ; and I would far rather deal
in deeds than in words with him who is to blame for it all,
although the blame and the reason is in yourself, since there
is no one, neither demon nor creature, who can force you to
the least fault unless you choose. Therefore I said to you that
you are the cause of it. Bathe you in the Blood of Christ
crucified. There are scattered the clouds of self-love and
servile fear, and the poison of hate and self-scorn. I say no
more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO

Sister Daniella has found herself in straits again j constrained,
it would seem, by the Spirit, to action not endorsed by her
religious superiors. Possibly she wished, following the
example of Catherine, to leave her cloister and take part in
the public life of her time. Catherine herself had been in like
straits during much of her early life. "Well she knew, as St.
Francis knew before her, the sufFering of that inward conflict,
when the Voice of God summons one way, and the voices of
men, reinforced by that instinct of humility and obedience
which the middle ages held so dear, insist upon another. She
writes to her friend with comprehending sympathy. Daniella,
as we have already seen, was a woman who understood her
and whom she understood. And it must have been a relief to
Catherine, at this point in her career, for once to encourage
ardour instead of rebuking sin or seeking to inspire timidity.
Our saint is so constantly on the side of obedience, when, as
not infrequently happens, some weak brother or sister is
restless under the yoke of vows, that we are sure she must
know her woman when she writes : " Fear and serve God,
disregarding yourself ; and then do not care what people say
unless it is to feel compassion for them."

We see at the end of the letter that Catherine is on the point
of going to Rome. In fact, Urban had summoned her thither,
being evidently alive to the advantages of the support of one
so famed for sanctity. In Rome the remainder of her life was
to be passed.

293

29+ LETTERS OF CATHERINE BEN1NCASA

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest daughter in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you
in His precious Blood : with desire to see thee in true and very
perfect light, that thou mayest know the truth in perfection.
Oh, how necessary this light is to us, dearest daughter ! For
without it we cannot walk in the Way of Christ crucified, a
shining Way that brings us to life ; without it we shall walk
among shadows and abide in great storm and bitterness. But, if
I consider aright, it behoves us to possess two orders of this
light. There is a general light, that every rational creature
ought to have, for recognizing whom he ought to love and
obey — perceiving in the light of his mind by the pupil of most
holy faith, that he is bound to love and serve his Creator, loving
Him directly, with all his heart and mind, and obeying the
commandments of the law to love God above everything, and
our neighbour as ourselves. These are the principles by which
all men beside ourselves are held. This is a general light,
which we are all bound by ; and without it we shall die, and
shall follow, deprived of the life of grace, the darkened way of
the devil. But there is another light, which is not apart from
this, but one with it — nay, by this first, one attains to the
second. There are those who, observing the commandments
of God, grow into another most perfect light ; these rise from
imperfection with great and holy desire, and attain unto
perfection, observing both commandments and counsels in
thought and deed. One should use this light with hungry
desire for the honour of God and the salvation of souls,
gazing therewith into the light of the sweet and loving
Word, where the soul tastes the ineffable love which God has
to His creatures, shown to us through that Word, who ran as

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 295

enamoured to the shameful death of the Cross, for the honour
of the Father and for our salvation.

When the soul has known this truth in the perfect light, it
rises above itself, above its natural instincts j with intense,
sweet and loving desires, it runs, following the footsteps of
Christ crucified, bearing pains, bearing shame, ridicule and
insult with much persecution, from the world, and often from
the servants of God under pretext of virtue. Hungrily it
seeks the honour of God and the salvation of souls ; and so
much does it delight in this glorious food, that it despises itself
and everything else : this alone it seeks, and abandons itself.
In this perfect light lived the glorious virgins and the other
saints, who delighted only in receiving this food with their
Bridegroom, on the table of the Cross. Now to us, dearest
daughter and sweet my sister in Christ sweet Jesus, He has
shown such grace and mercy that He has placed us in the
number of those who have advanced from the general light to
the particular — that is, He has made us choose the perfect
state of the Counsels : therefore we ought to follow that sweet
and straight way perfectly, in true light, not looking back for
any reason whatever ; not walking in our own fashion but in
the fashion of God, enduring sufferings without fault even
unto death, rescuing the soul from the hands of devils. For
this is the Way and the Rule that the Eternal Truth has given
thee ; and He wrote it on His body, not with ink, but with
His Blood, in letters so big that no one is of such low intelli-
gence as to be excused from reading. Well thou seest the
initials of that Book, how great they are ; and all show the
truth of the Eternal Father, the ineffable love with which we
were created — this is the truth — only that we might share His
highest and eternal good. This our Master is lifted up on
high upon the pulpit of the Cross, in order that we may better
study it, and should not deceive ourselves, saying: "He
teaches this to me on earth, and not on high." Not so : for

296 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

He ascended upon the Cross, and uplifted there in pain, He
seeks to exalt the honour of the Father, and to restore the
beauty of souls. Then let us read heartfelt love, founded in
truth, in this Book of Life. Lose thyself wholly ; and the
more thou shalt lose the more thou shalt find ; and God
will not despise thy desire. Nay, He will direct thee, and
show thee what thou shouldst do ; and will enlighten him to
whom thou mightest be subject, if thou dost according to His
counsel. For the soul that prays ought to have a holy
jealousy, and let it always rejoice to do whatever it does with
the help of prayer and counsel.

Thou didst write me, and as I understood from thy letter it
seems that thou art troubled in heart. And this is not a slight
feeling ; nay, it is mighty, stronger than any other, when on
the one side thou dost feel thyself called by God in new ways,
and His servants put themselves on the contrary side, saying
that this is not well. I have a very great compassion for thee ;
for I know not what burden is like that, from the jealousy the
soul has for itself; for it cannot offer resistance to God, and it
would also fulfil the will of His servants, trusting more in
their light and knowledge than in its own ; and yet it does not
seem able to. Now I reply to thee simply according to my
low and poor sight. Do not make up thy mind obstinately, but
as thou feelest thyself called without thine own doing, so
respond. So, if thou dost see souls in danger, and thou canst
help them, do not close thine eyes, but exert thyself with
perfect zeal to help them, even to death. And never mind
about thy past resolutions to silence or anything else — lest it
be said to thee later : " Cursed be thou, that thou wast silent!"
Our every principle and foundation is in the love of God and
our neighbour alone ; all our other activities are instruments
and buildings placed on this foundation. Therefore thou
shouldst not, for pleasure in the instrument or the building,
desert the principal foundation in the honour of God and the

TO SISTER DANIELLA OF ORVIETO 297

love of our neighbour. Work, then, my daughter, in that field
where thou seest that God calls thee to work ; and do not get
distressed or anxious in mind over what I have said to thee,
but endure manfully. Fear and serve God, with no regard to
thyself j and then do not care for what people may say, except
to have compassion on them.

As to the desire thou hast to leave thy house and go to
Rome, throw it upon the will of thy Bridegroom, and if it
shall be for His honour and thy salvation, He will send thee
means and the way when thou art thinking nothing about it,
in a way that thou wouldst never have imagined. Let Him
alone, and lose thyself; and beware that thou lose thee
nowhere but on the Cross, and there thou shalt find thyself
most perfectly. But this thou couldst not do without the
perfect light ; and therefore I said to thee that I desired to
see thee in the true and most perfect light, beyond the common
light we talked of.

Let us sleep no more ! Let us wake from the slumber
of negligence,, groaning with humble continual prayers, over
the mystical Body of Holy Church, and over the Vicar of
Christ ! Cease not to pray for him, that Christ may give him
light and fortitude to resist the strokes of incarnate demons,
lovers of themselves, who seek to contaminate our faith. It
is a time for weeping.

As to my coming thy way, pray the highest eternal Good-
ness of God to do what may be for His honour and the salva-
tion of the soul, and pray especially, for I am on the point of
going to Rome, to fulfil the will of Christ crucified and
of His Vicar. I do not know what way I shall take. Pray
Christ sweet Jesus to send us by that way which is most to
His honour, in peace and quiet of our souls. I say no more
to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO STEFANO MACONI

" To Stefano di Corrado Maconi, her ignorant and most
ungrateful son": "To Stefano Maconi, her most ungrateful
and unworthy son, when she was at Rome " : so run the
superscriptions to these letters. Doubtless, they headed
copies made by the hand of Stefano himself, We have seen
in connection with Catherine's letters to his mother how
constantly after their first meeting this young disciple had
been with her. Long before this, he had become the best-
beloved of the " Famiglia," and next to herself its most
important member. He did not, however, for some reason,
accompany her to Rome, and Catherine's heart yearned over
him during the last weary months. From the first, she had
perceived in his frank and joyous temperament the germs
of high spiritual perfection, and had sought to draw him
to the monastic life. " Cut the bonds that hold thee, and
do not merely loosen them," she wrote in one of the first
letters to Stefano that we possess : " Resist no longer the
Holy Spirit that is calling thee — for it will be hard for thee
to kick against Him. Do not let thyself be withheld by thine
own lukewarm heart, or by a womanish tenderness for thyself,
but be a man, and enter the battlefield manfully." Stefano,
however, despite his personal devotion to Catherine, felt for
a long time no vocation for the cloister. She continued, as
we see in these letters, to urge him with increasing insistence :
but his hesitation was ended only by her death. He hastened
to Rome at the last, urgently summoned, in time to see her
living and to receive her last words. Her dying request did
what her entreaties during life had failed to do ; the brilliant

298

TO STEFANO MACONI 299

young noble became a Carthusian monk. At a later time he
was made General of the Order. Devotion to the memory
of Catherine was the inspiration of his life after she left him.
The letters in this group were all written after Catherine
had reached Rome. They form a strong contrast to the more
formal and elaborate documents which she was at this time
despatching to dignitaries, concerning the ecclesiastical situa-
tion. Their serene spiritual fervour bears witness to the
"central peace" subsisting at the heart of the "endless
agitation" of her active life. In their intimate messages,
moreover, to home friends and disciples, they throw a charm-
ing light on what may be called the domestic side of her
character.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His
precious Blood : with desire to see thee a true guardian of
the city of thy soul. Oh, dearest son, this city has many
gates! They are three — Memory, Intellect, and Will, and our
Creator allows all of them to be battered, and sometimes
opened by violence, except one — that is, Will. So it happens
at times that the intellect sees nothing but shadows ; the
memory is occupied with vain and transitory things, with many
and varied reflections and impure thoughts ; and likewise all
the sensations of the body are ill-regulated and ravaging. So
it is perfectly clear that no one of these gates is in our own
free possession, except only the Gate of Will. This belongs
to our liberties, and has for its Watch Free-will. And this
gate is so strong that nor demon nor creature can open it
if the watch does not consent. And while this gate is not
open — that is, while it does not consent to what Memory and
Intellect and the other gates experience — our city keeps its

300 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

free privileges for ever. Let us, then, recognize, my son, let
us recognize so excellent a benefit and so unmeasured a
largess of charity as we have received from the Divine
Goodness, that has put us in free possession of so noble
a city.

Let us strive to hold good and. zealous watch, keeping at
the side of our Watch Free-will, the dog Conscience, who
when anyone comes at the gate must awake Reason by its
barking, that she may discern whether it be friend or foe ; so
that the watch may let friends enter, ordering good and holy
inspirations to do their work, and may drive away the foes,
locking the Gate of Will, that it consent not to admit the evil
thoughts that come to the gate every day. And when thy
city shall be demanded of thee by the Lord, thou canst give
it up, sound, and adorned with true and royal virtues, thanks
to His grace. I say no more here.

As I wrote on the first day of the month to all the sons in
common, we arrived here on the first Sunday in Advent with
much peace. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God,
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant and
slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His
precious Blood . with desire to see thee risen above childish-
ness, and become a manly man ; risen from enjoying the milk
of consolations, mental and actual, and set to eat the hard
musty bread of many tribulations in mind and body, of con-
flicts with devils and injuries from thy fellows, and of any
other kind that God might be pleased to grant thee. I desire
to see thee rejoicing in such, and hasting to meet them with
kindling desire and sweet gratitude to the divine goodness,
when it may please Him to show thee such great gifts — which

TO STEFANO MACONI 301

will be whenever He shall see thee fit to receive them.
Rouse thee, my son, rouse thee from thy lukewarmness of
heart ; steep it in the Blood, that it may burn in the furnace
of divine charity, so that it may attain to abominate all childish
deeds, and be on fire to be all manful, to enter on the battle-
field to do great works for Christ crucified, fighting manfully.
For Paul says that none shall be crowned save such as have
manfully fought. So he who sees himself abide away from
the Field has cause for weeping. Now I say no more here.

I had thy letter, and saw it gladly. Concerning the affair
of the Proposal, I reply that thy disposition pleases me much ;
and we must be glad of the sweet games that our sweet God
plays with His creatures, to persuade them to the end for
which we were all created ; so that when the sweet medicine
and ointment of consolations does not help, He sends us
tribulations, cauterizing, the wound that it may not suppurate.
I will willingly take pains about thy affair, for the love of
God and thy salvation, as soon as these festivals and holy days
are past.

I will try to obtain the Indulgences that thou askest me for
with the first I shall demand. I do not know when — for I
have worn out the clerks of the court. One must hold
one's self a little back.

I am writing a letter to Matteo *. give it to him. And
comfort him, and go to find him sometimes, to warm him up
to the enterprise that is begun. I have heard of the illness
which God has sent. . . . and, considering his need, I beg
and constrain thee as much as I can that thou and thy brothers
bring it about that the Company of the Virgin Mary give
him aid, as much as thou canst get. Catarina is very much
to be pitied, to find herself alone and poor without any
refuge ; so be zealous to show this charity. I am writing of
this to Pietro, too. Let me perceive that you have not shown
any negligence.

302 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

I say no more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet grace
of God. All this family comfort thee in Christ, and be the
negligent and ungrateful writer commended to thee. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His
precious Blood : with desire to see thee cut thy bonds, and
not simply set thyself to loosening them, for it takes some
time to loosen, and this thou art not sure of having, so
swiftly it passes from thee. It is better, then, to cut them
thoroughly, with a true and holy zeal. Oh, how blessed my
soul will be when I shall see that thou hast cut thyself off
from the world in deed and thought, and from thy own
fleshly instincts, and hast united thyself to life eternal : a
union that is of such joy and sweetness and suavity that it
quenches all bitterness and renders light every heavy weight !
"Who, then, shall hold us from drawing the sword of hate and
love, and cutting self from self with the hand of free will ?
As soon as this sword has cut, it is of such virtue that it
unites. But thou wilt say to me, dearest son : " Where is
this sword found and wrought ? " I reply to thee, Thou
findest it in the cell of self-knowledge, where thou dost
conceive hatred of thine own sin and frailty, and love of thy
Creator and thy neighbour, with true and sincere virtues.
Where is it wrought ? In the fire of divine charity, on the
anvil of the Body of the sweet and loving Word, the Son of
God. Then ignorant indeed, and worthy of great rebuke, is
he who has weapons in his possession to defend himself with,
and who throws them away.

I do not want thee to be of these ignorant people, but I
want thee to hasten in thy whole manhood, and respond to

TO STEFANO MACONI 303

Mary, who calls thee with greatest love. The blood of these
glorious martyrs, buried here in Rome as to the body, who
gave blood and life with so fiery love for the love of Life, is
hot with longing, summoning thee and the others that you
come to suffer, for glory and praise of the Name of God and
Holy Church, and for the trial of your virtues. . For to this
Holy Land, wherein God revealed His dignity, calling it His
garden, He has called His servants, saying : " Now is the
time for them to come, to test the gold of virtue." Now let
us not play the deaf man, Were our ears stopped by cold,
let us cleanse us in the Blood, hot because it is mingled with
fire, and all deafness shall be taken away. Hide thee in the
Wounds of Christ crucified ; flee before the world, leave thy
father's house ; flee into the refuge of the Side of Christ
crucified, that thou mayest come to the Land of Promise.
This same thing I say also to Pietro. Place you at the table
of the Cross, and there, refreshed by the Blood, take the
food of souls, enduring pains and shames, insults, ridicule,
hunger, thirst, and nakedness : glorying, with that sweet
Paul the Chosen Vessel, in the shame of Christ crucified. If
thou shalt cut thee free, as I said, endurance shall be thy
glory, otherwise not, but it shall be a pain to thee, and thy
shadow will make thee afraid.

My soul, considering this, as an hungered for thy salvation.
I desire to see thee cut thyself free, and not set thyself to
loosen, that thou mayest run thee more swiftly. Clothe thee
in the Blood of Christ crucified. I say no more to thee.
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God.

I had thy letters, and had great consolation from them, over
Battista's being healed, because I have hope that he will yet be
a good plant, and for the compassion I felt for Monna Gio-
vanna. But I rejoiced very much more that God has sent
thee a way of extricating thyself from the world, and also
over the good disposition of which thou writest me, that the

304 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

Lords and our other citizens have toward our sweet " Babbo,"
Pope Urban VI. May God by His infinite mercy preserve
it, and increase ever their reverence and obedience toward
him. While thou and the others shall be there, be zealous
to sow the truth and confound falsehood as far as your power
extends.

Commend me closely to Monna Giovanna and Currado.
Comfort also Battista and the rest of the family. Comfort all
those sons of mine, and tell them also particularly to pardon
me if I do not write to them, because it seems somewhat
difficult. Comfort Messer Matteo : tell him to send us word
of what he wants, first, because I have forgotten it, and Fra
Raimondo went away so soon that we could not get it from
him. Then I will zealously do all I can. And tell Frate
Tommaso that I do not write to him because I do not know
whether he is there, but if he is there, comfort him, and tell
him to give me his blessing. Our Lisa and all the family
commend themselves to thee. Neri does not write thee
because he has been at the point of death ; but now he is
cured.

May God give thee His sweet eternal blessing. Tell Pietro
to come here if he can, for something that is of importance.
Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love !

Give all these letters, or have them given. And pray God
for us. As to these few letters bound by themselves, give
them just as they are to Monna Catarina di Giovanni, and let
her distribute them.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to thee in His
precious Blood: with desire to see thee arise from the luke-
warmness of thy heart, lest thou be spewed from the mouth

TO STEFANO MACONI 305

of God, hearing this rebuke, " Cursed are ye, the lukewarm !
Would you had at least been ice-cold ! " This lukewarmness
proceeds from ingratitude, which comes from a faint light that
does not let us see the agonizing and utter love of Christ
crucified, and the infinite benefits received from Him. For
in truth, did we see them, our heart would burn with the
flame of love, and we should be famished for time, using it
with great zeal for the honour of God and the salvation of
souls. To this zeal I summon thee, dearest son, that now we
begin to work anew.

I send thee a letter that I am writing to the Lords, and one
to the Company of the Virgin Mary. See and understand
them, and then give them ; and then . . And talk to them
fully concerning this matter that is contained in the letters,
begging each of them, on behalf of Christ crucified and me,
that they deal zealously, just so far as they can, with the
Lords and whoever has to do with it, that the right thing may
be done in regard to Holy Church, and the Vicar of Christ,
Urban VI. It weighs upon me very much, for my part, that
it should please them to have confidence in this matter, for the
honour of God, and the spiritual and temporal profit of the
city. Do thou be fervent and not tepid in this activity, and in
quickening thy brothers and elders of the Company to do all
they may in the affair of which I write. If you are what
you ought to be, you will set fire to all Italy, and not only
yonder.

I say no more to thee. Remain in the holy and sweet grace
of God. Comfort ... all these, thy brothers, and thy sister,
comfort thee in Christ, and all are waiting for thee. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO CERTAIN HOLY HERMITS

WHO HAD BEEN INVITED TO ROME BY THE POPE

From early years, Catherine had cherished the simple-hearted
desire that the affairs of Christ's people be put in the hands of
His truest followers. Now, in this last period of her life,
surrounded by the corruption and intrigue of the papal court,
her thoughts turned more and more wistfully to the reserves
of spiritual passion and insight that lingered in the hearts of
obscure " servants of God" living in monasteries or in hermits'
cells.

To invite these holy men to Rome — to gather them around
Urban, and so show by triumphant witness of those in nearest
fellowship with God on which side lay God's truth — was
doubtless the political idea of a very unworldly saint. Never-
theless, it commended itself to the Pope. At his request, then,
though probably by her own suggestion, Catherine wrote to
sundry of those eremites with whom she had long held
spiritual converse, summoning them to the Holy City. Her
letters were a thrilling call to the champions of Christ, to cast
off timidity and indolence, and betake them swiftly to the field
where difficulties and troubles, and it might be a martyr's
death, was waiting them.

In the third of the letters that follow, Catherine gives a
touching picture of two bewildered hermits — Dominican
" dogs of the lord " from the gentle Umbrian plain — who
obeyed the call. " Old men, and far from well, who have
lived such a long time in their peace," they have made the
laborious journey, and are now valiantly suppressing their
homesickness, and unsaying their involuntary complaints. But

306

TO CERTAIN HOLY HERMITS 307

not all the hermits summoned were equally docile. Visionary-
raptures could hardly be looked for in the streets of the
metropolis : dear was the seclusion of wood and cell. Father
William Flete, whom Catherine had always persisted in
admiring, despite his failings, flatly declined to stir ; so did
his comrade, Brother Antonio. The Abbot of St. Antimo,
another person for whom she had always entertained a deep
respect, although he came, appears from her letters to have
played the part of a coward.

We cannot be surprised if peaceable Religious who had
lived their long days in unbroken quiet objected to enter the
unpleasant whirlpool of Roman politics. A similar attitude
on the part of eremites of culture is not unknown to-day.
But their refusal was a blow to Catherine. She could hardly
have drawn the natural conclusion that a recluse life unfitted
men to fight for practical righteousness, but she did feel deeply
troubled. From early youth she had been, as we have
repeatedly seen, alive to the dangers of selfishness and in-
dolence peculiarly incident to the contemplative life j at the
same'time she had firmly believed that, did the flame of inter-
cession only burn bright enough, this life might be pro-
foundly sacrificial. Now her best-beloved recluses did not
stand the test in the hour of trial, and their naif egotism dis-
appointed her unspeakably. Her grief, her amaze, her all
but scathing contempt for a religion that declined to forego
its inward comforts even at the dramatic summons of a crisis
in the Church, find expression in these letters. Doubtless the
" great refusal " thus offered by men whom she had trusted
helped to darken her last months. Not even in the hearts of
her intimates, not even among the elect of God, was Catherine
to find here on earth a continuing city.

TO BROTHER WILLIAM OF ENGLAND
AND BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA

AT LECCETO

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest sons in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you so lose yourselves that
you shall seek nor peace nor quiet elsewhere than in Christ
crucified, becoming an-hungered upon the table of the Cross,
for the honour of God, the salvation of souls, and the reforma-
tion of Holy Church, whom to-day we see in so great need
that to help her one must come out from one's wood and
renounce one's self. If one sees that he can bear fruit in her,
it is no time to stay still nor to say, " I should forfeit my
peace." For now that God has given us the grace of provid-
ing Holy Church with a good and just shepherd, who delights
in the servants of God, and wishes them near him, and
expects to be able to purify the Church and uproot vices and
plant virtues, without any fear of man, since he bears himself
like a just and manly man, we others ought to help him. I shall
perceive whether we have in truth conceived love for the reform-
ation of Holy Church ; for if it is really so, you will follow the
will of God and of His Vicar, will come out of your wood, and
make haste to enter the battlefield. But if you do not do it, you
will be in discord with the will of God. Therefore I pray
you, by the love of Christ crucified, that you respond swiftly
without delay to the request that the Holy Father makes of

308

TO BROTHER WILLIAM OF ENGLAND 309

you. And do not hesitate because of not having a wood, for
there are woods and forests here. Up, dearest sons, and
sleep no more, for it is time to watch ! I say no more to you.
Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love ! In Rome, on the fifteenth day of December,
1378.

TO BROTHER ANDREA OF LUCCA

TO BROTHER BALDO AND

TO BROTHER LANDO

SERVANTS OF GOD IN SPOLETO, WHEN THEY
WERE SUMMONED BY THE HOLY FATHER

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest fathers in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, ser-
vant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you
in His precious Blood : with desire to see you eager and
ready to do the will of God, in obedience to His Vicar,
Pope Urban VI., in order that by you and the other ser-
vants of God help may be brought to His sweet Bride.
For we see her in such bitter straits that she is attacked on
every side by contrary winds ; and you see that she is es-
pecially attacked by wicked men, lovers of themselves, by the
perilous and evil wind of heresy and schism, which can con-
taminate our faith. Was she ever in so great a need as now,
when those who ought to help her have attacked her, and
darkness is shed abroad by those whose task it is to enlighten ?
They should nourish us with the food of souls, ministering
the Blood of Christ crucified which gives the life of grace ;
and they drag it from men's mouths, ministering eternal
death, like wolves who feed not the flock, but devour them,
And what shall the dogs do — the servants of God, who are
placed in the world as guardians, that they may bark when
they see the wolf come, to awaken the chief shepherd ? What
are they to bark with ? With humble and continual prayer,

3TO

TO BROTHER ANDREA AND OTHERS 311

and with the living voice. In this way they shall terrify the
demons, visible and invisible, and the heart and mind of our
chief Shepherd, Pope Urban VI., shall awaken ; and when he
shall be wakened, we do not doubt that the mystical body of
Holy Church and the universal body of the Christian religion
shall be helped, and the flock recovered, and saved from the
hands of devils. You ought not to draw back for any reason :
not for suffering that you expected, nor for shames nor perse-
cution, nor ridicule that might be cast at you j not for hunger,
thirst, or death a thousand times were it possible ; not for
desire of quiet, nor of your consolations, saying : " I wish my
soul's peace, and I can cry out in prayer before the face of God
(without going to Rome) " ; nay, by the love of Christ cruci-
fied. For it is not now the hour to seek one's self for one's self,
nor to flee pains in order to possess consolations ; nay, it is the
hour to lose one's self, since the Infinite Goodness and Mercy of
God has seen to the necessity of Holy Church, and given her
a just and good shepherd, who wishes to have these dogs
around him, which shall bark constantly for the honour of God;
fearing lest he sleep, and not trusting in his vigil, unless they
are always ready to bark to waken him. You are among those
whom he has chosen. Therefore I beg and constrain you in
Christ sweet Jesus, that you come swiftly, to fulfil the will
of God, who wills thus, and the holy will of the Vicar of
Christ, that is calling you and the others.

You need not be afraid of luxuries or of great consolations ;
for you are coming to endure, and not to enjoy yourselves,
except with the joy of the Cross. Lean your head out, and
come forth into the Field, to fight genuinely for truth ; hold-
ing before the eye of your mind the persecution wrought to
the Blood of Christ, and the damnation of souls ; in order that
we may be more inspired for the battle, so that we may look
back for no possible cause. Come, come ! and do not linger,
waiting for the hour, for the hour does not wait us. I am sure

3i2 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

that the Infinite Goodness of God will make you know the
truth. And yet I know that many, even among those who are
servants of God, will go to you and oppose this holy and good
work, thinking to speak well, in saying : " You will go, and
nothing will be done." And I, like a presumptuous woman,
say that something will be done ; if our principal desire is not
now to be fulfilled, at least the way will be cleared. And
even if nothing at all should be done, we have shown in the
sight of God and our fellow-men that we have done what we
could ; our own conscience has been aroused and unburdened.
So that it is well in any case. The more opposition you shall
have, the clearer sign it is to you that this is a good and holy
work ; since as we have seen, and continue to see constantly,
great, holy, and good works meet more opposition than little
ones, because they have larger results ; and therefore the devil
hinders them in every way he can, especially by means of the
servants of God, through obscure deceits, under colour of
virtue. I have said this to you in order that you should not
give up coming for any reason, but should present yourselves
with prompt obedience at the feet of his Holiness.

Drown you in the Blood of Christ, and may our own will
die in all things. I say no more to you. Remain in the
holy and sweet grace of God. Commend me to all the servants
of God near you, that they may pray the Divine Goodness
to give me grace to lay down my life for His Truth. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA

OF THE HERMIT BROTHERS OF SAINT AUGUS-
TINE AT THE CONVENT OF LECCETO NEAR SIENA

In the name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest son in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant and
slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood : with desire to see you founded upon the
Living Rock, Christ sweet Jesus, so that the building you
shall raise on it may never be overthrown by any contrary
wind that may strike you, but may endure wholly solid, firm,
and stable, even till your death upon the "Way of Truth. Oh,
how we need this true and royal foundation — not known of
my ignorance ! for did I truly know it, I should not build
upon myself, who am worse than sand, but upon that Living
Rock I spoke of. Following Christ upon the way of shame
and outrage and insult, I should deprive me of every consola-
tion from whatever source, within or without, to conform
myself with Him. I would not seek myself for my own
sake, but would care only for the honour of God, the salvation
of souls, and the reform of Holy Church, whom I see in so
great need ! Me miserable, who am doing quite the con-
trary ! But though I do wrong, dearest son, I would not
that you and the others did ; nay, I desire to see you founded
on this Rock. Now the hour is come that proves who is
a servant of God, and whether men shall seek themselves for
their own sake, and God for the private consolation they find
in Him, and their neighbours for their own sake in so far as
they see consolations in them — yes, or no, and whether we

313

3H LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

are to believe that God may be found only in one place and
not in another. I do not see that this is so— but find that to
the true servant of God every place is the right place and
every time is the right time. So when the time comes to
abandon his own consolations and embrace labours for the
honour of God, he does it ; and when the time comes to flee
the wood for need of the honour of God, he does it, and
betakes him to public places, as did the blessed St. Antony,
who although he supremely loved solitude, yet deserted it
many times to comfort the Christians. And so I might tell
of many other saints. This has always been the habit of the
true servants of God, to emerge in time of need and adversity,
but not in the time of prosperity — nay, that they flee. There
is no need to flee just now, through fear lest our great
prosperity make our hearts sail away in the wind of pride and
vainglory ; for there is no one who can glory now otherwise
than in labours. But light seems to be failing us, dazzled as
we are by our consolations and the hope we place in special
revelations — things which do not let us know the truth
rightly, though we act in good faith. But God, who is
highest and eternal Goodness, gives us perfect and true light.
I enlarge no more on this matter.

It appears, from the letter which Brother William has sent
me, that neither he nor you is coming here. I do not intend
to reply to this letter : but I grieve much over his simplicity,
for little honour to God or edification to his neighbour results
from it. For if he is unwilling to come from humility and
fear of forfeiting his peace, he ought to exercise the virtue
of humility, by asking permission from the Vicar of Christ
humbly and with gentleness, entreating his Holiness graciously
to permit him to stay in his wood, for his greater peace,
nevertheless, as one truly obedient, submitting the matter to
his will. Thus he would be more pleasing to God, and
would secure his own good. But he seems to have done just

TO BROTHER ANTONIO OF NIZZA 315

the contrary, alleging that a person who is bound to divine
obedience ought not to obey his fellow-creatures. As to
other people, I should care very little ; but that he should
include the Vicar of Christ, this does grieve me much, to see
him so discordant with truth. For divine obedience never
prevents us from obedience to the Holy Father : nay, the
more perfect the one, the more perfect is the other. And we
ought always to be subject to his commands and obedient
unto death. However indiscreet obedience to him might seem,
and however it should deprive us of mental peace and con-
solation, we ought to obey ; and I consider that to do the
opposite is a great imperfection, and deceit of the devil. It
appears from what he writes that two servants of God have
had a great revelation, to the effect that Christ on earth, and
whoever advised him to send for these servants of God,
followed human and not divine counsel, and that it was rather
the instigation of the devil than the inspiration of God that
made them wish to drag their servants from their peace and
consolations : adding that if you and the others came you
would lose your spiritual life, and thus would be of no help
in prayer, and unable to stand by the Holy Father in spirit.
Now really, the spiritual life is quite too lightly held if it is
lost by change of place. Apparently God is an acceptor of
places, and is found only in a wood, and not elsewhere in
time of need ! Then what shall we say — we who, on the one
hand, wish that the Church of God be reformed, the thorns
uprooted, and the fragrant flowers the servants of God
planted there ; and, on the other hand, we are told that to send
for them, and drag them from their mental peace and quiet in
order that they may come to help that little Ship is a wile of
the devil ? At least, let a man speak for himself, and not
speak of the other servants of God — for among the servants
of the world we are not to count ourselves. Not thus have
done Brother Andrea of Lucca, nor Brother Paolina, those

3i6 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

great servants of God, old men and far from well, who have
lived such a long time in their peace : but at once, with all
their weariness and disabilities they put themselves on the
road, and have come, and fulfilled their obedience : and
although desire constrains them to return to their cells, they
are not therefore willing to throw off the yoke, but say :
" What I have said, be it unsaid ! " — disregarding their self-
will and their personal consolations. One comes here to
endure : not for honours, but for the dignity of many labours,
with tears, vigils and continual prayers ; thus should one do.
Now let us not weigh ourselves down with more words.
May God by His mercy send us clear vision, and guide us in
the way of truth, and give us true and perfect light, that we
may never walk among shadows. I beg you, you and the
Bachellor, and the other servants of God, to pray the Humble
Lamb that He make me walk in His Way. Remain in the
holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love,

TO QUEEN GIOVANNA OF NAPLES
(WRITTEN IN TRANCE)

Giovanna, recalcitrant, has failed to respond to the entreaties
of Catherine. Her temporary espousal of the cause of Urban
has made only more painful her reversion to the side of
Clement. " You see your subjects pitted against each other
like beasts through this unhappy division," writes Catherine
in another letter. " Oh me ! how is it that your heart does
not burst, to endure that they should be divided by you, and
one hold to the white rose and one the red, one to truth and
one to falsehood ? Misfortunate my soul ! Do you not see
that they are all created in that very pure rose, the eternal
will of God, and re-created by grace in that very burning
rose, crimson with the Blood of Christ, in which we were
washed from sin in Baptism ? Consider that nor you nor
another ever so bathed them or gave them that glorious rose,
but only our Mother, Holy Church, through the highest
Pontiff who holds the keys, Pope Urban VI. How can your
soul bear to take from them that which you cannot give ?
If this does not move you, are you not at least moved by the
shame into which you are fallen in the sight of the world?
This much more since your change than before ; for lately
you confessed the truth and your wrong, and showed yourself
willing to throw yourself like a daughter upon the mercy of
your father ; and since then you have wrought worse than
ever, whether because your heart was not pure, and feigned
what was not there, or because justice willed that I should
anew do penance for my ancient sins, that I do not merit to
see you in peace and quiet, feeding at the breasts of Holy

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318 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

Church. It is such a pain to me, that I cannot bear a greater
cross in this life, when I consider the letter which I received
from you, in which you confessed that Pope Urban was the
true highest father and priest, and said that you were willing
to be obedient to him, and now I find the contrary."

In the present letter Catherine pours forth to the yet living
woman a sorrowful elegy over the dead soul. She argues no
longer; the political aspect of the situation is for the time
being overshadowed by the grief with which she contemplates
the hardened sin and coming doom of the woman to whom
her heart had from her youth up gone out with an especial
tenderness, and in whom she had hoped at one time to see a
true Defender of the Faith. It will be noticed that she writes
in trance. Whatever may have been the nature of that myste-
rious state, we may be sure that thoughts then uttered came
from the depths of her being which lie below consciousness,
and we may so gain an additional evidence of the intensity of
her feeling concerning Giovanna.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest mother in Christ sweet Jesus : I, Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His
precious Blood, with desire to see you compassionate to your
own soul and body. For if we are not merciful to our own
souls, the mercy and pity of others would avail us little. The
soul treats itself with great cruelty when of its own accord it
puts the knife with which it can be killed in the hands of its
foe. For our foes have no weapons with which they can hurt
us. They would be very glad to, but they cannot, because
will alone can hurt us ; and as for the will, neither demon nor
creature can move it, nor force it to one least fault more than
it chooses. So the perverse will which consents to the malice
of our foes is a knife which kills the soul that gives it into the

TO QUEEN GIOVANNA OF NAPLES 319

hand of these foes with its own free choice. Which shall we
call the more cruel — the foes or the very person who receives
the blow ? It is we who are more cruel, for we consent to
our own death.

We have three chief foes. First, the devil, who is weak if
I do not make him strong by consenting to his malice. He
loses his strength in the power of the Blood of the humble
and spotless Lamb. The world with all its honours and
delights, which is our foe, is also weak, save in so far as we
strengthen it to hurt us by possessing these things with
intemperate love. In the gentleness, humility, poverty, in
the shame and disgrace of Christ crucified, this tyrant the
world is destroyed. Our third foe, our own frailty, was made
weak ; but reason strengthens it by the union which God
has made with our humanity, arraying the Word with our
humanity, and by the death of that sweet and loving Word,
Christ crucified. So we are strong, and our foes are weak.

It is very true, then, that we are more cruel to ourselves
than our foes are. For without our help they cannot kill nor
hurt us, since God has not given them to us that we might be
vanquished, but that we might vanquish them. Then our
fortitude and constancy are proved. But I do not see that we
can avoid such cruelty and become merciful without the light
of most holy faith, opening the eye of the mind to behold how
displeasing it is to God and harmful to soul and body, and
how pleasing to God and useful to our salvation is mercy.

Dearest mother — mother I say in so far as I see you to be
a faithful daughter of Holy Church — it seems to me that you
have no mercy on yourself. Oh me ! oh me ! because I love
you I grieve over the evil state of your soul and body. I
would willingly lay down my life to prevent this cruelty.
Many times I have written you in compassion, showing you
that what is shown you for truth is a lie ; and the rod of
divine justice, which is ready for you if you do not flee so

320 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

great wrong. It is a human thing to sin, but perseverance in
sin is a thing of the devil. Oh me ! there is none who tells
you the truth, nor do you seek among the servants of God
those who might tell it you, that you should not stay in a
state of condemnation. Oh, how blessed my soul would be
could I come into your parts, and lay down my life to restore
to you the good of heaven and the good of earth ; to take
from you the knife of cruelty, with which you have killed
yourself, and help to give you that of mercy, which kills vice ;
so that you should clothe you in the holy fear of God and
love of truth, and bind you in His sweet will !

Oh me, do not await the time which you are not sure of
having ! Do not choose that my eyes should have to shed
rivers of tears over your wretched soul and body— a soul
which I hold as my own ! If I consider that soul, I see that
it is dead, because separated from its body ; it persecutes^ not
Pope Urban VI., but our truth and faith. I expected, mother
and daughter mine, as you used to write to me, that through
you these should be spread among the infidels by means of
divine grace, and declared and helped among us, defended
when we should see a taint appear, from those who have
been or were contaminated. Now I see quite the contrary
appear in you, through the evil counsel which has been given
you for my sins. You have received it as one merciless
toward your salvation ; and I see that there will be no human
creature who can restore your loss, but you yourself must
render this account before the highest Judge. You did not
offend through ignorance, not knowing the right, for the
truth was shown to you ; but you do not know how to turn
back from that which you have begun, because the knife of
perverse and selfish will destroys knowledge and choice,
making you hold that as shame which is your greatest honour.
For perseverance in fault and in such an evil is greatest dis-
grace, and displays one as a sign of shame before the eyes of

TO QUEEN GIOVANNA OF NAPLES 321

one's fellow-creatures ; but to escape from them is greatest
honour ; and by honour and the odour of virtue, shame is
escaped and the stench of vice extinguished.

And if I consider your condition as to those temporal and
transitory goods that pass like the wind — you yourself have
deprived yourself of them by right. You have only to
receive the last sentence of being deprived of them by deed,
and published a heretic. My heart breaks and cannot break,
from the fear that I have lest the devil so obscure the eye of
your mind that you endure that loss, and such shame and
confusion as I should repute greater than the loss that you
would suffer. And you cannot hide it with saying, " This
would be done to me unjustly, and the thing which is unjustly
inflicted casts no shame." That cannot be said ; for it would
be done justly, both because of the fault you have committed,
and because he can do it as highest and true pontiff that he is,
chosen by the Truth in truth. For were he not so, you would
not have offended. So that it would be just. But he has
refrained from doing this through love, as a benignant father
who waits for his son to correct himself. Yet I fear that he
may do it, constrained by justice, and by your long persever-
ance in evil. And I do not say this as one who does not know
what she is saying.

And if you said to me, " I do not care about this, for I am
strong and mighty, and I have other lords who will help me,
and I know that he is weak w — I reply to you that he wearies
himself in vain who will guard the city with force and with
great zeal, if God guard it not. And can you say that you
have God with you ? We cannot say it, for you have put
Him against you for putting yourself against truth ; you have
put you against Him, and it is truth that sets him free who
holds thereto, and none there is who can confound it. There-
fore you have reason to fear, and not to trust in your strength
and power, had you yet more of them than you have. And
y

322 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

he has reason to comfort his weakness in Christ sweet Jesus,
whose place he holds, trusting in His strength and aid, who
shall send him aid from such a side as we cannot imagine.
And you know that if God is for you, none shall be against
you.

Then let us fear God, and tremble beneath the rod of His
justice. Let us correct us, and advance no further. Be
merciful to yourself, and you shall call down the mercy of God ,
upon you. Have compassion on the many souls who are
perishing through you j of whom you will have to render
account before God at the last extremity of death. There is
yet healing for us, and time wherein we can return \ and He
will receive you with great benignity. I am sure that if you
will be merciful and not cruel to your soul and also to your
body, you will do this, and will have pity upon your subjects :
in otherwise, no. Therefore I said that I desired to see you
merciful and not cruel to your soul. And thus I pray you,
through the love of Christ crucified, that at least you hold
and will to be held, the truth which was announced to you and
to the other lords of the world. And if you should say, " It
is still doubtful to me," stay neutral till it is made clear to you,
and do not do what you should not. Desire illumination and
counsel from those whom you see to fear God, and not from
members of the devil, who would counsel you ill in that
which they do not hold for themselves. Fear, fear God, and
place Him before your eyes, and think that God sees you, and
His eye is upon you, and His justice wills that every fault be
punished and every good rewarded. Be merciful, ah, be
merciful to yourself! I say naught else to you. Remain in
the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO

OF THE PREACHING ORDER
WHEN HE WAS IN GENOA

In more grievous ways than any yet noted, Catherine was to
be wounded in the house of her friends. The letters already
given have shown us how tenderly intimate, on the human as
well as on the spiritual side, were her relations with the father
of her soul, " given her by that sweet mother, Mary." One
shares her affection for good Father Raimondo as one reads
the legend. His figure might well have belonged to the
trecento rather than to the more strenuous age that followed.
He was the simplest, the most modest of men — albeit by no
means lacking in homely shrewdness ; he was also one of the
least heroic. Catherine, like most uplifted natures, demanded
heroism from those dear to her, as a matter of course. Others
wish for their beloved ease, delights, the gratification of
ambition and desire ; Catherine sought for them sorrow,
hardships, the opportunity to offer their lives in exalted
sacrifice for the sins of the Church and the world. She
craved for them only less passionately than for herself, the
crowning grace of martyrdom. Now Fra Raimondo had no
affinity whatever for martyrdom. His chance at it came, in
the fortunes of those stern times, and was promptly rejected.
Urban, perhaps at Catherine's instigation, had despatched him
to the King of France, and Raimondo had bidden his spiritual
daughter and mother a solemn farewell, surmising doubtless
that he was to see her face no more. He proceeded to the
port of Genoa, planning thence to set sail for France. But
the galleys of the antipope sought to debar the passage j and

323

324 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

Raimondo, accepting the obstacle (one imagines with much
ease), allowed himself to give up the expedition.

Catherine wrote him two letters on the matter. The first
is brief, and half-playful in tone: "Oh my naughty father"
(cativello padre mio) she says, " How blessed your soul and mine
would have been could you have sealed with your blood a
stone in Holy Church ! I do wish I could see you risen above
your childishness — see you shed your milk teeth and eat bread,
the mustier the better ! " Evidently Raimondo had answered
this letter, writing, one imagines, in a deprecating tone, fearing
lest Catherine may love him the less for his failure, yet after
all assuming— so strong is our expectation of finding our own
attitude in our friends- — that she will rejoice in his escape. In
this her reply she tells her whole heart. Surely, few more
pathetic revelations of disappointed yet faithful affection have
drifted to us on the tide of the ages. Catherine was at this
time far advanced upon her own Via Dolorosa. One of the
stations of her sorrow had been the parting with her friend :
" And you have left me here, and have gone away with God.5'
Here was another station, marked by a deeper pain : " Faithful
obedience would have done more in the sight of God and men
than all human prudence ; my sins have prevented me from
seeing it in you." With a glad suffering she had given
Raimondo up to the service of God ; with a suffering that was
bitterly shamed, she saw him false to his calling. She utters
no vain reproaches. In her own way she begins with earnest
self-accusations, and proceeds to comfort the weakness of the
man who should have been her guide with tender and subtly-
reasoned assurances of her unchanged affection. At the same
time she does not flinch from uncondoning, scathing statement
of his sin and of her disillusion. Considerate, delicate, even
courteous to a degree, the letter yet reveals in every line the
sense of solitude which the action of Raimondo had caused
her. There is no rebellion in her spirit : " I hold me none the

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO 325

less in peace, because I am certain that nothing happens with-
out mystery," she sighs. But we grieve with a new, awe-
struck perception of the loneliness of her great soul, as we
realize that to Raimondo was to be given perforce her deepest
confidence in the passion upon which she was even now
entering.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest father in Christ sweet Jesus : I Catherine, servant
and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in
His precious Blood : with desire to see in you the light of
most holy faith. This is a light which shows us the way
of truth, and without it no activity, or desire, or work of
ours would come to fruition, or to the end for which we
began it ; but everything would become imperfect — slow we
should be in the love of God and of our neighbour. This
is the reason : seemingly love is as great as faith, and faith
is as great as love. He who loves is always faithful to him
whom he loves, and faithfully serves him till death. By this
I perceive that in truth I do not love God, nor the creatures
through God : for if in truth I loved Him, I should be
faithful in such wise that I should give myself to death a
thousand times a day, were it needful and possible, for the
glory and praise of His Name, and faith would not fail me,
since for the love of God and of virtue and of Holy Church
I should set myself to endure. So I should believe that God
was my help and my defender, as He was of those glorious
martyrs who went with gladness to the place of martyrdom.
"Were I faithful I should not fear, but I should hold for sure
that the same God is for me who was for them ; and His
power to provide for my necessities is not weakened as
to capacity, knowledge, or will. But because I do not love,
I do not really trust myself to Him, but the sensuous fear in

326 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

me shows me that love is lukewarm, and the light of faith
is darkened by faithlessness toward my Creator, and by
trusting in myself. I confess and deny not that this root
of evil is not yet uprooted from my soul, and therefore those
works are hindered which God wants to do or puts in my
way, so that they do not reach the lucid and fruitful end for
which God had them begun. Ah me, ah me, my Lord ! Woe
to me miserable ! And shall I find myself thus every time,
in every place, and in every state ? Shall I always close with
my faithlessness the way to Thy providence ? Yes, truly,
if indeed Thou by Thy mercy do not unmake me, and make
me anew. Then, Lord, unmake me, and break the hard-
ness of my heart, that I be not a tool which spoils Thy
works !

And I beg you, dearest father, to pray earnestly that I
and you both together may drown ourselves in the Blood
of the humble Lamb, which will make us strong and faith-
ful. We shall feel the fire of the divine charity : we
shall be co-workers with His grace, and not undoers or
spoilers of it. So we shall show that we are faithful to
God, and trust in His help, and not in our knowledge nor in
that of men.

With this same faith we shall love the creature ; for as love
of the neighbour proceeds from love of God, so with faith, in
general and in particular ; as there is a general faith corre-
sponding to the love which we ought to feel in general to
every creature, so there is a special faith belonging to those
who love one another more intimately : like this, which
beyond the common love has established between us two a
close particular love, a love which faith manifests. So much
love does it manifest that it cannot believe nor imagine that
one of us wishes anything else than the other's good ; and
it believes earnestly, for it seeks this with great insistence in
the sight of God and men, seeking ever in the other the glory

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO 327

of the name of God and the profit of his soul ; constraining
Divine Help, that as it adds burdens it may add fortitude and
long perseverance. Such faith bears he who loves, and
never lessens it for any reason, neither for speech of man nor
illusion of the devil, nor change of place. If anyone does
otherwise, it is a sign that he loves God and his neighbour
imperfectly.

Apparently, as I understood by your letter, many diverse
battles befell you, and troubled reflections, through the deceit
of the devil and through your own sensuous passion, it
seeming to you that a burden was imposed on you greater
than you can bear. You did not seem to yourself strong
enough for me to measure you with my measure, and on this
account you were in doubt lest my affection and love to you
were diminished. But you did not see aright, and it was you
who showed that I had grown to love more, and you less ;
for with the love with which I love myself, with that I love
you, in the lively faith that all which is lacking on your part,
God will complete by His goodness. But this is not done
yet, for you have known how to find ways to throw your
load down to earth. You present us many scraps of excuses '
to cover up your faithless frailty, but not in such wise that
I do not see it quite enough now, and good it will seem to
me if it is not perceived by anyone but me. Yes, yes, I show
you a love increased in me toward you, and not waning. But
what shall I say ? How could your ignorance give place to
one of the least of those thoughts ? Could you ever believe
that I wished anything else than the life of your soul ?
Where is the faith that you always used to have and ought
to have, and the certainty that you have had, that before a
thing is done, it is seen and determined in the sight of God
— not only this, which is so great a deed, but every least
thing ? Had you been faithful, you would not have gone
about vacillating so, nor fallen into fear toward God and

328 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

toward me ; but like a faithful son, ready for obedience, you
would have gone and done what you could. And if you
could not have gone upright, you would have gone on all
fours ; if you could not have gone as a Frate, you would have
gone as a pilgrim ; if there is no money for us, one would
have gone begging. This faithful obedience would have
accomplished more in the sight of God and in the hearts
of men than all human prudences. My sins have prevented
me from seeing it in you.

Nevertheless I am quite sure, that although selfish passion
was there, you yet had and have holy and good regard to fulfil
better the will of God and that of Christ on earth, Pope
Urban VI. Not that I would have had you stay, though ; nay,
but take to the road at once, in whatever fashion and by what-
ever way had been open to you. Day and night I was con-
strained by God concerning many other things also 5 which,
through the carelessness of him who has to do them, but
chiefly through my sins which hinder every good, are all
coming to nothing. And thus, ah me ! we see ourselves drown-
ing, and offences against God increasing, with many torments \
and I live in an agony of delay. May God, in His mercy,
soon take me from this life of shadows !

We see in the kingdom of Naples that this last disaster is
worse than the first ; and so many evils are likely to happen
there, that may God remedy them ! But He in His pity
showed the disaster, and the remedies that ought to be applied.
But, as I said, the abundance of my faults hinders all good.
I shall have a great deal to say to you about these matters,
should I not receive the greatest grace, that of release from
earth before I see you again.

Yes, as I say, I do entirely wish that you had gone. Never-
theless I hold me in peace, because I am certain that nothing
happens without mystery ; and also because I unburdened
my conscience, doing what I could that a messenger should

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO 329

be sent to the King of France. May the clemency of the
Holy Spirit achieve it ! For we by ourselves are bad
workmen.

As for going quickly to the King of Hungary, it is clear
that the Holy Father would be well enough pleased, and he
had planned that you should go with other companions. Now,
I do not know why, he has changed his mind, and wishes
you to stay where you are, and do what good you can. I beg
you to be zealous about it.

Abandon yourself, and every personal pleasure and consola-
tion ; and let turfs be thrown upon those who are dead, and
with the cords of humble desire and holy prayer let the hands
of divine justice be bound, the devil, and fleshly appetite.
We are offered dead in the garden of Holy Church, and to
Christ on earth, the lord of that garden. Then let us do the
works of the dead. The dead man does not see nor hear nor
feel. Be strong to slay yourself with the knife of hate and
love, that you may not hear the derision, the insults, the re-
proaches of the world, which the persecutors of Holy Church
would offer you. Let not your eyes see things as impossible
to do, nor the torment that may follow ; but let them see with
the light of faith that through Christ crucified you can do all
things, and that God will not impose a greater burden than
can be borne. Why, we are to rejoice in great burdens,
because then God gives us the gift of fortitude. With the
love of endurance, fleshly sensitiveness is lost ; and thus dead,
dead, we may nourish ourselves in this garden. When I see
this, I shall account my soul as blessed. I tell you, sweetest
father, that whether we will or no, the times to-day summon
us to die. Then be no more alive ! End pains in pain, and
increase the joy of holy desire in the pain ; that our life may
pass no otherwise than in crucified desire, and that we may
give our bodies willingly to be eaten by beasts ; that is, for the
love of virtue let us willingly fling ourselves upon the tongues

33o LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

and hands of bestial men, as did those others who have worked,
dead, in this sweet garden, and watered it with their blood,
but first with their tears and sweats. And I — (grievous my
life !) — because I have not given enough water to it, was
refused permission to give it my blood. I will it to be no more
thus, but be our life renewed and the fire of desire increased !

You ask me to pray the Divine Goodness to give you the
fire of Vincent, of Lawrence, and of sweet Paul, and that of
the charming John — saying that then you will do great things.
And so I shall be glad. Surely I say the truth, that without
this fire you would not do anything, neither little nor big, nor
should I be glad in you.

Therefore, considering that it is so, and that I have seen it
proved, an impulse has grown in me, with great zeal in the
sweet sight of God. Were you near me in the body, truly
I would show you that it is so, and would give you other than
words. I rejoice, and I want you to rejoice \ for, since this
desire grows, He will fulfil it in you and me, because He
accepts holy and true desires ; provided that you open the eye
of your mind in the light of holiest faith, that you may know
the truth of the will of God. Knowing it you will love it,
and loving it you will be faithful, and your heart will not be
overshadowed by any wile of the deviL Being faithful, you
will do every great thing in God : what He puts into your
hands will be fulfilled perfectly ; that is, it will not be hindered
on your part from coming to perfection. With this light you
will be cautious, modest, and weighty in speech and conversa-
tion and in all your works and way ; but without it you
would do quite the contrary in your ways and habits, and
everything else would turn out contrary for you.

So, knowing that this is the case, I desired to see in you the
light of most holy faith ; and so I want you to have it. And
because I want this, and love you immeasurably for your salva-
tion, and desire with great desire to see you in the state of

TO BROTHER RAIMONDO 331

the perfect, therefore I pray you with many words — but I
would do so more willingly in deed ; and I use reproaches
with you, in order that you may return continually to yourself.
I have done my best, and I shall do so, to make you assume
the burden of the perfect for the honour of God, and ask His
goodness to make you reach the last state of perfection ; that
is, to shed your blood for Holy Church, whether your servant
the flesh will it or no. Lose you in the Blood of Christ cruci-
fied, and bear my faults and words with good patience. And
whenever your faults may be shown you, rejoice, and thank the
Divine Goodness, which has assigned someone to labour over
you, who watches for you in His sight.

As to what you write me, that antichrist and his members
seek diligently to have you, do not fear ; for God is strong to
take away their light and their force, that they may not fulfil
their desires. Beside, you ought to think that you are not
worthy of so great a good, and so you need not fear. Take
confidence ; for sweet Mary and the Truth will be for you
always.

I, vile slave, who am placed in the Field, where blood was ■
shed for the love of Blood — (and you have left me here, and
gone away with God) — shall never pause from working for
you. I beg you so to do that you give me no matter for
mourning, nor for shaming me in the sight of God. As you
are a man in promising the will to do and bear for the honour
of God, do not then turn into a woman when we come to the
shutting of the lock ; for I should appeal against you to Christ
crucified and to Mary. Beware lest it happen later to you as
to the abbot of St. Antimo, who, through fear and under colour
of not tempting God, left Siena and came to Rome, supposing
that he had escaped his prison and was safe ; and he was
thrown into prison, with the punishment that you know. So
are pusillanimous hearts cured. Be, then, be all a man . that
death may be granted you.

332 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

I beg you to pardon me whatever I might have said that
was not honour to God and due reverence to yourself: let
love excuse it, I say no more to you. Remain in the holy
and sweet grace of God. I ask your benediction. Sweet
Jesus, Jesus Love !

TO URBAN VI

This is the last letter to Urban that we possess. If, as seems
likely, it is also the last that Catherine wrote to him, it must
have been written on the Monday after Sexagesima, 1380,
under circumstances which she describes for us in the next
letter to be given. She had already at the time entered upon
the mystical agony which preceded her transitus.

The letter alludes to historic details of which we have no
knowledge and for which we do not care. Yet it has rare
interest. That exquisite sweetness which often blends in so
unique a way with Catherine's authoritative tone, was never
more evident. Urban's impetuous inconsistencies, and the
irrational gusts of anger which were by this time alienating
even his friends, could not be more clearly nor more gently
rebuked. One's heart aches at the thought of what manner
of man he was to whom this sensitive, and high-minded
woman was forced by her faith to give not only allegiance
but championship. Not once during Catherine's active life
was she allowed to fight in a clear cause, or at least in a
cause in which sympathies could be undivided ; the pathos of
the situation is evident in the meek and patient firmness of her
tone. But the letter has a deeper interest, if it is really the
last she wrote to him. Knowing the circumstances of its
composition, we must be amazed at the lucidity of her thought
and words, at the steady and definite wisdom with which she
discusses the movement of events in the outer world. It is
surely significant to the psychologist that a woman in the
throes of such an experience as the next letters present, could
write in such a strain. The whole life of Catherine, indeed,

333

334 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

refutes the popular opinion that mystics cannot be trusted to
sane judgment or sustained wisdom of action in the confused
affairs of this world.

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest and sweetest father in Christ sweet Jesus : I
Catherine, your poor unworthy daughter, write to you with
great desire to see a prudence and sweet light of truth in you,
in such wise that I may see you follow the glorious St.
Gregory, and govern Holy Church with such prudence that
it may never be necessary to take back anything which may
be ordered or done by your Holiness $ even the least word ;
so that your firmness grounded in the truth may be evident
in the sight of God and men, as ought to be the case with the
true holy High Priest. I pray the inestimable charity of God
that He clothe your soul in this ; for it seems to me that light
and prudence are very necessary indeed to us, and especially
to your Holiness and to anyone else who might be in your
place 5 most chiefly in these current times. Because I know
that you have a desire to find these in yourself, I remind you
of them, showing you the desire of your own soul.

I have heard, holy father, of the reply which the violence
of the Prefect made ; surely in violence of wrath and irrev-
erence toward the Roman ambassadors. On which reply it
seems that they are to hold a General Council, and then the
heads of the wards and certain other good men are to come
to you. I beg you, most holy father, that as you have begun
so you will continue to meet with them often, and to bind
them prudently with the bands of love. So I beg you that
now, as to what they will say to you when the Council is
held, you will receive them with as much gentleness as you
can, showing them what your Holiness thinks must be done.
Pardon me — for love makes me say what perhaps there is no

TO URBAN VI 335

need of saying, since I know that you must understand the
temperament of your Roman sons, who are drawn and held
more with gentleness than with any force or asperity of
words ; and also you recognize the great necessity in
which you are, and Holy Church, to keep this people in
obedience and reverence toward your Holiness ; because the
head and beginning of our faith is here. And I humbly beg
you, that you will aim prudently always to promise that
which it ought to be possible to you fully to perform, so that
loss, shame, and confusion may not follow later. Pardon me,
most sweet and holy father, for saying these words to you.
I am confident that your humility and benignity are content
that they should be said, and will not feel distaste or scorn
for them because they come from the mouth of a most despic-
able woman ; for the humble man does not consider who
speaks to him, but pays note to the honour of God, and to
truth and his own" salvation.

Comfort you, and do not fear on account of any bad reply
which this rebel against your Holiness may have made or may
make, for God will care for this and for everything else, aa
Ruler and Helper of the ship of Holy Church, and of your
Holiness. Be you manful for me, in the holy fear of God ;
wholly exemplary in your words, your habits, and all your
deeds. Let all shine clear in the sight of God and men ; as
a light placed in the candlestick, of Holy Church, to which
looks and should look all the Christian people.

Also I beg you that you should bring us some help for
what Leo told you ; for this scandal grows greater every day,
not only through the thing that was done to the Sienese
ambassador, but also through the other things which are seen
day by day, which are enough to provoke to wrath the feeble
hearts of men. You do not need this person now, but some-
one who shall be a means of peace, and not of war. Although
he may act with a good zeal for justice, there are many who

336 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

do so with such disorder and such impulse of wrath that they
depart from all reason and measure. Therefore I earnestly
beg your Holiness to condescend to the infirmity of men, and
provide a physician who shall know how to cure the infirmity
better than he. And do not wait so long that death shall
follow : for I tell you that if no other help is found, the
infirmity will grow.

Then recall to yourself the disaster that fell upon all Italy,
because bad rulers were not guarded against, who governed
in such wise that they were the cause of the Church of God
being despoiled. I know that you are aware of this : now
let your Holiness see what is to be done. Comfort you,
comfort you sweetly ; for God does not despise your desire,
nor the prayer of His servants. I say no more to you. Remain
in the holy and sweet Grace of God. Humbly I ask your
benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

LETTERS DESCRIBING THE EX-
PERIENCE PRECEDING DEATH

" Fightings and fears within, without," had long been
Catherine's portion. Now the end was at hand. From girl-
hood she had confronted a great contradiction. The sharpest
trial to Christian faith throughout the ages is probably the
spectacle presented by the visible Church of Christ. This
abiding parable of the contrast between ideal and actual was
perhaps never more painful to the devout soul than in
Catherine's time, and perhaps we are safe in saying that
no one ever suffered from it more than she. Her whole life
was an Act of Faith : faith the more heroic because main-
tained against the recurrent attacks of spiritual doubt and
despair. At more than one point in her career we see her,
overwhelmed by the seeming failure of the divine purpose,
lifting her whole being into the Presence of God, there to1
receive reassurance, none the less satisfying to her vigorous
intellect because conveyed through the channel of mystic
ecstasy.

One such experience may be quoted here. It dates appar-
ently from the time of her greatest disappointment in
Gregory ; we can judge of its significance and depth from
the fact that she afterward recorded it more fully, and used it
as the basis for the first book of- her " Dialogue." " Comfort
you, dearest father," she writes to Raimondo : " Concerning
the sweet Bride of Christ : for the more she abounds in
tribulations and bitterness, so much the more Divine Truth
promises to make her abound in sweetness. . . When I had
thoroughly understood your letters, I begged a servant of

z 337

333 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

God to offer tears and sweats before God, for the Bride and
because of the ' Babbo's ' weakness.

" Whence instantly, by divine grace, there grew in her a
desire and gladness beyond all measure. She waited for the
morning to have Mass, it being the Day of Mary j and when
the hour of Mass had come, took her place with true self-
knowledge, abasing herself before God for her imperfection.
And rising above herself with eager desire, and gazing with
the eye of her mind into Eternal Truth, she made four
petitions there, holding herself and her father in the Presence
of the Bride of Truth.

" First, the reform of Holy Church. Then God, letting
Himself be constrained by tears and bound by the cords of
her desire, said : ' Sweetest My daughter, thou seest how
she has soiled her face with impurity and self-love, and
become swollen by the pride and avarice of those who feed
at her bosom. But take thy tears and sweat, drawing them
from the fountain of My divine charity, and cleanse her face.
For I promise thee that her beauty shall not be restored
to her by the sword, nor by cruelty or war, but by peace,
and humble continual prayers, tears and sweats, poured forth
from the grieving desires of My servants. So thy desire
shall be fulfilled in long abiding, and My providence shall in
no wise fail you.'

" Although the salvation of all the whole world was contained
in this, nevertheless the prayer reached out more in particular,
entreating for the whole world. Then God showed in how
great love He had created man, and He said : * Now thou
seest that every one is striking at Me. See, daughter, with
what diverse and many sins they strike at Me, and especially
with their wretched abominable self-love, whence issues every
evil, with which they have poisoned the whole world. Do
you then, My servants, adorn you in My Presence with many
prayers, and so you shall mitigate the wrath of divine justice.

THE EXPERIENCE PRECEDING DEATH 339

And know that no one can escape from My Hands. Open
the eye of thy mind and gaze upon My Hand.' And lifting
her eyes she saw held in His grasp all the universal world.
Then He said : ' I will that thou know that no one can
be taken from Me ; for all are under either justice or mercy ;
therefore all are Mine. And because they came forth from
Me, I love them unspeakably, and shall show them mercy
by means of My servants.' Then, the flame of desire in-
creasing, that woman abode as one blessed and grieving, and
gave thanks to the Divine Goodness : as perceiving that
God had showed her the faults of His creatures that she
might be constrained to arise with more zeal and greater
desire. And so greatly increased the holy fire of love,
that she despised the sweat of water she poured forth,
through her great desire to see a sweat of blood pour from
her body : and she said to herself, ' Soul mine, thou hast wasted
thy whole life.. Therefore have so great losses and evils
fallen on the world and on Holy Church, in general and
in particular. So now I wish thee to atone with sweat of
blood.' Then that soul, spurred on by holy desire, arose
much higher, and opened the eye of her mind, and gazed
into the Divine Charity : where she saw and felt how much
we are bound to seek the glory and praise of the Name of
God in the salvation of souls."

In this remarkable passage we see Catherine's high and
increasing sense of responsibility. Her tears and sweats are
to cleanse the face of the Church, and through the grieving
desire of the servants of God, redemption is to be accom-
plished. She was never, as we know, one of those Christian
fatalists whose optimism leads them to inaction. From the
day when, reluctant, she left her little cell, she threw her
power with unwearied constancy and courage into the life
of her day, repugnant though its problems might be to her
natural temper. Catherine was, however, profoundly con-

34o LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

vinced that social salvation was to be wrought, not by work
alone, but also by prayer ; or rather, for the antithesis is
false, that the forces which re-create society are set in motion
in the invisible sphere. Constant intercession, and the uplifting
of that " holy desire " which is the watchword of her teaching
into a sacrificial passion — these are the means from which she
hoped for reform and purification. In younger life, she is
said to have prayed that she might be made a stopper in the
mouth of Hell to prevent other souls from entering ; through
the quaint mediaeval figure one reads the prevailing impulse of
her life.

The longer Catherine lived, the darker became the religious
prospect. She saw her aims in practical politics realized one
by one, only to mock her by spiritual failure. Those whom
she best loved disappointed her ideal. She witnessed iniquity
in high religious places, violence and corruption enlisted
in the defence of truth. As she watched these things, the
sense of an inward expiation to be accomplished became over-
powering. It summoned her to death, and at the same time
offered her a unique consolation,

These letters must now speak for themselves. They were
written shortly before her death to Fra Raimondo, who, sadly
though he had failed her, remained her most trusted friend.
We have impressive accounts from other sources of Cathe-
rine's slow trafisitus — of the long weeks during which she was
literally dying, and by her own choice, of a broken heart.
They corroborate many of the details here given. But of still
higher value is this transcript by the woman herself — minutely
painstaking, while yet obviously composed under strong ex-
citement— of the experience in the secret places of her soul.
The first of these letters is written under stress of emotion so
intense that coherence is hardly possible. The mind is baffled
in seeking to find human speech which shall even adumbrate
reality. What Catherine has to describe is the culmination of

THE EXPERIENCE PRECEDING DEATH 341

her earthly life : the final triumph of faith over despair, the
final offering of herself as a sacrificial victim, in obedience, as
she believes, to the express Voice of God. The second letter
is more calm. The sacrifice has been accepted. She is dying,
not indeed by the violence of men, like the martyrs for whose
fate she has yearned, but by the agony of her own heart,
breaking for the sins of Holy Church. " I in this way," she
writes exulting, " as the holy martyrs with blood." And her
agony is serene and joyous ; her last thoughts are for others ;
her soul is full of the victory of peace. Outwardly, all was
confusion around her ; but her own life — the only region in
which unity is within our reach — was rounded into a har-
monious whole. To read the expression of that life in her
letters is to follow one of those tragedies that are the salvation
of the world.

TO MASTER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA

... I was breathless with grief from the crucified desire
which had been newly conceived in the sight of God. For
the light of the mind had mirrored itself in the Eternal Trinity -0
and in that abyss was seen the dignity of rational being, and
the misery into which man falls by fault of mortal sin, and the
necessity of Holy Church, which God revealed to His servant's
bosom ; and how no one can attain to enjoy the beauty of God
in the abyss of the Trinity but by means of that sweet Bride ;
for it befits all to pass by the door of Christ crucified, and this
door is not found elsewhere than in Holv Church. She saw
that this Bride brought life to men, because she holds in her-
self such life that there is no one who can kill her ; and that
she gave fortitude and light, and that there is no one who can
weaken her, in her true self, or cast her into darkness. And
she saw that her fruit never fails, but increases for ever.

Then said Eternal God : " All this dignity, which your
intellect could not compass, is given you men by Me. Con-
sider, therefore, in grief and bitterness, and thou shalt see that
people are approaching this Bride only for her outer raiment —
that is, for temporal possessions. But thou seest her wholly
deserted by those who seek her very essence — that is, the
fruit of Blood. He who pays not the price of charity with
true humility and the light of most holy faith, would share
this, not unto life, but unto death ; he would do like the thief,
who takes what is not his. For the fruit of Blood is for those
who pay the price of love, because she is founded in love, and
is Very Love itself. And I will," said Eternal God, "that every
one give to her through love, according as I give to My

342

TO MASTER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 343

servants to minister in diverse ways, even as they have re-
ceived. But I grieve that I find none who ministers there.
Nay, it seems that every one has abandoned her. But I will
be the Mediator once more."

And the pain and fire of her desire increasing, she cried in
the sight of God, saying : " What can I do, O unsearchable
Fire ? " And His benignity replied : " Do thou offer thy life
anew. Thou canst refrain from ever giving thyself repose.
To this work I have appointed thee — thee and all who follow
thee or are to follow. Take ye then heed never to relax, but
always to increase in desires ; for I, impelled by love, am
taking good heed to aid you with My bodily and spiritual
grace. And in order that your minds may not be occupied
by anything else, I have made provision, arousing her whom I
have appointed to govern you, and I have led her, and put her
to this work by mysteries and in new ways ; so that she
serves My Church with temporal substance, and you with
continual humble faithful prayer, and with what activities
shall be needed, which shall be appointed to thee and to
them by My Goodness, to each according to his rank. De-
vote, then, thy life and heart and mind wholly to that Bride^
for Me, with no regard to thyself. Contemplate Me, and
behold the Bridegroom of this Bride, that is the highest
Pontiff, and see his holy and good intention — an intention
without reserves. And as the Bride is alone, so also is the
bridegroom. I permit him to cleanse Holy Church by methods
which he applies immoderately, and by fear, with which he
inspires his subjects. But another shall come, who shall
draw close to her in love, and shall fulfil her. It shall befall
this Bride as it befalls the soul ; for first fear possesses her,
but when she is divested of sins, then love fills her and
clothes her with virtue. All this it shall do, with sweet
sustaining, sweet and suave, of those who shall nourish them
at her breast in truth. But do thou this : Say to My Vicar

344 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

that he pacify himself to the extent of his power, and grant
peace to whosoever will receive it. And to the columns of
Holy Church say that if they wish to remedy great disasters
they are to do thus : let them unite, and form a cloak to cover
the methods of their father that may seem faulty. And let
them adopt a well-ordered life, close to those who fear and
love Me, and cling together, casting their lower natures aside.
If they do thus, I who am Light will give them the light
needful to Holy Church. And seeing that there is something
which ought to be done among them, let them refer it to My
Vicar in true unity, quickly,, boldly, and after much reflection.
He then will be constrained not to resist their goodwills ; for
he really has a holy and good intention."

The tongue does not suffice to narrate such mysteries, nor
what intellect saw and affection conceived. And the day
passing by, full of marvel, the evening came. And I, feeling
that the heart was so drawn by the force of love that I could
offer no resistance to going to the place of prayer, and feeling
that disposition come upon me which was at the time of my
death, prostrated me with great compunction because I had
served the Bride of Christ with much ignorance and negli-
gence, and had been cause that others had done the same.
And rising, with the impression of what I have said before
the eye of my mind, God placed me before Himself — not but
that I am always before Him, because He contains everything
in Himself — but in a new way, as if memory, intellect, and
will had nothing whatever to do with my body. And this
Truth was reflected in me with such light that in that abyss
were then renewed the mysteries of Holy Church, and all the
graces received in my life, past and present, and the day in
which my soul was wedded to Him. All which then vanished
from me through the increase of the inward fire : and I paid
heed only to what should be done, that I should make a
sacrifice of myself to God for Holy Church and for the sake

TO MASTER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 345

of removing ignorance and negligence from those whom God
had put into my hands. Then the devils called out havoc
upon me, seeking to hinder and slacken with their terrors my
free and burning desire. So these beat upon the shell of the
body ; but desire became the more kindled, crying, " O
Eternal God, receive the sacrifice of my life in this mystical
body of Holy Church ! I have naught to give save what Thou
hast given to me. Take then my heart, and may Thy Bride
lean her face upon it ! " Then Eternal God, turning the eyes
of His mercy, removed my heart, and offered it to Holy
Church, And He had drawn it to Himself with such force
that had He not at once bound it about with His strength —
not wishing that the vessel of my body should be broken — my
life would have gone. Then the devils cried much more
clamorously, as if they had felt an intolerable pain ; forcing
themselves to leave terror with me, threatening me so to dis-
port them that such an act as this could not be wrought. But
because Hell cannot resist the virtue of humility with the
light of most holy faith, the spirit became more single, and
worked with tools of fire, hearing in the sight of the Divine
Majesty words most charming, and promises to give gladness.
And because in truth it was thus in so great a mystery, the
tongue henceforth can suffice to speak of it no more.

Now I say: Thanks, thanks be to the Highest God Eternal,
who has placed us in the battlefield as knights, to fight for
His Bride with the shield of holiest faith. The field is left
free to us by that virtue and power which routed the devil
who possessed the human race ; who was routed, not in the
strength of humanity, but of Deity. Thus the devil neither
is nor shall be routed by the suffering of our bodies, but by
strength of the fire of divine, most ardent, and immeasurable
love.

TO MASTER RA1MONDO OF CAPUA

OF THE ORDER OF THE PREACHERS

In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified
and of sweet Mary :

Dearest and sweetest father in Christ sweet Jesus : I
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ,
write to you in His precious Blood \ with the desire to see you
a pillar newly established in the garden of Holy Church, like
a faithful bridegroom of truth, as you ought to be ; and then-
shall I account my soul as blessed. Therefore I do not wish
you to look back for any adversity or persecution, but I wish
you to glory in adversity. For by endurance and in no other
wise we show our love and constancy, and give glory to God's
Name. Now is the time, dearest father, wholly to lose
one's self, not to think of one's self an atom : as the glorious
workmen did who were ready with such love and desire to
give their life, and watered this garden with blood, with
humble continual prayer, and with endurance unto death.
Beware lest I see you timid \ let not your shadow make you
afraid \ but be a manly fighter, and never desert that yoke of
obedience which the highest pontiff has placed on you. More-
over, in the Order do what you see to be to the honour of
God ; for the great goodness of God demands this of us, and
He has appointed us for nothing else.

Behold what necessity we see in Holy Church ; for we see
her left utterly alone ! Thus .the Truth showed, as I write you
in another letter. And as the Bride has been left solitary, so is
her bridegroom. Oh, sweetest father, I will not be silent to you
of the great mysteries of God, but I will tell them the most

346

TO MASTER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 347

briefly that I can, so far as the frail tongue can express them
by telling. And further, I say to you what I want you to do.
But receive what I say to you without pain, for I do not know
what the Divine Goodness will do with me, whether It will
have me remain here, or will call me to Itself.

Father, father and sweetest son, wonderful mysteries has
God wrought, from the Day of the Circumcision till now ; such
that no tongue could suffice to tell them. But let us pass
over all that time, and come to Sexagesima Sunday, when
occurred, as I am writing you briefly, those mysteries which
you shall hear : never have I seemed to bear anything like
them. For the pain in my heart was so great, that the tunic
which clothed me burst, as much as I could clasp of it ; and
I circled around in the chapel like a person in spasms. He
who had held me had surely taken away my life. Then,
Monday coming, in the evening I was constrained to write to
Christ on earth and to three cardinals. So I had myself helped,
and went into the study. And when I had written to Christ
on earth, I had no way of writing more, the pains had so
greatly increased in my body. And, waiting a little, the terror-
of demons began, in such wise that they stunned me entirely ;
raging against me as if I, worm that I am, had been the means
of taking from their hands what they had possessed a long
time in Holy Church. So great was the terror, with the
bodily pain, that I wanted to fly from the study and go to the
chapel — as if the study had been the cause of my pains. So
I rose up, and not being able to walk, I leaned on my son
Barduccio. But suddenly I was thrown down ; and lying
there, it seemed to me as if my soul were parted from my
body ; not in such wise as when it really was parted, for then
my soul tasted the good of the Immortals, receiving that
Highest Good together with them ; but this now seemed like
a special case, for I did not seem to be in the body, but I saw
my body as if it had been someone else. And my soul, seeing

348 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

the grief of him who was with me, wished to know if I
had any power over the body, to say to him : "Son, do not
fear " ; and I saw that I could not move the tongue or any
member of it, any more than a body quite dead. Then I let
the body stay just as it was ; and the intellect was fixed on
the abyss of the Trinity. Memory was full of recollection
of the need of Holy Church and of all the Christian people ;
and I cried before His Face, and demanded divine help with
assurance, offering to Him my desires, and constraining Him
by the Blood of the Lamb and the pains that had been borne.
And so eager was the demand that it seemed to me sure that
He would not deny that petition^ Then I asked for all you
others, praying Him that He would fulfil in you His will and my
desires. Then I asked that He would save me from eternal con-
demnation. And while I stayed thus for a very long time, so
that the Family was mourning me as dead, at this point all the
terror of the demons was gone away. Then the Presence of
the Humble Lamb came before my soul, saying : " Fear not :
for I will fulfil thy desires, and those of My other servants.
I will that thou see that I am a good master, who plays the
potter, unmaking and remaking vessels as His pleasure is.
These My vessels I know how to unmake and remake ; and
therefore I take the vessel of thy body, and remake it in
the garden of Holy Church, in different wise than in past
time." And as this Truth held me close, with ways and
words most charming, which I pass over, the body began
to breathe a little, and to show that the soul was returned to
its vessel. Then I was full of wonder. And such pain
remained in my heart that I have it there still. All pleasure
and all refreshment and all food was then taken away from
me. Being carried afterward into a place above, the room
appeared full of devils : and they began to wage another
battle, the most terrible that I ever had, trying to make me
believe and see that I was not she who was in the body, but

TO MASTER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 349

an impure spirit. I, having invoked the divine help with
a sweet tenderness, refusing no labour, yet said : " God, listen
for my help ! Lord, haste Thee to help me ! Thou hast
permitted that I be alone in this battle, without the refresh-
ment of the father of my soul, of whom I am deprived for my
ingratitude."

Two nights and two days passed in these tempests. It is
true that mind and desire received no break, but remained ever
fixed on their object ; but the body seemed almost to have
failed. Afterward, on the Day of the Purification of Mary,
I wished to hear Mass. Then all the mysteries were renewed ;
and God showed the great need that existed, as later appeared ;
for Rome has all been on the point of revolution, backbiting
disgracefully, and with much irreverence. Only that God
has poured oil on their hearts, and I think the thing will have
a good end. Then God imposed this obedience on me, that
during the whole of this holy season of Lent I should offer in
sacrifice the desires of all the Family, and have Mass celebrated
before Him with this one intention alone — that is, for Holy
Church — and that I should myself hear a Mass every morning
at dawn — a thing which you know is impossible to me ; but in
obedience to Him all things have been possible. And this
desire has become so much a part of my flesh, that memory
retains nothing else, intellect can see nothing else, and will can
desire nothing else. Not so much that the soul turns aside
from things here below for this reason — but, conversing with
the True Citizens, it neither can nor will rejoice in their joy,
but in their hunger, which they still feel, and which they felt
while pilgrims and wayfarers in this life.

In this way, and many others which I cannot tell, my life is
consumed and shed for this sweet Bride . I by this road, and
the glorious martyrs with blood. I pray the Divine Goodness
soon to let me see the redemption of His people. "When it is
the hour of terce, I rise from Mass, and you would see a dead

350 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

woman go to St. Peter's ; and I enter anew to labour in the
ship of Holy Church. There I stay thus till near the hour of
vespers : and from this place I would depart neither day nor
night until I see this people at least a little steadily established
in peace with their father. This body of mine remains with-
out any food, without even a drop of water : in such sweet
physical tortures as I never at any time endured ; insomuch
that my life hangs by a thread. Now I do not know what the
Divine Goodness will do with me : as far as my feelings go,
I do not say that I perceive His will in this matter ; but as to
my physical sensations, it seems to me that this time I am to
confirm them with a new martyrdom in the sweetness of my
soul — that is, for Holy Church ; then^ perhaps, He will make
me rise again with Him. He will put so an end to my miseries
and to my crucified desires. Or He may employ His usual
ways to strengthen my body. I have prayed and pray His
mercy that His will be fulfilled in me, and that He leave not
you or the others orphans. But may He ever guide you in
the way of the doctrine of Truth, with true and very perfect
light. I am sure that He will do it.

Now I pray and constrain you, father, and son given by that
sweet Mother, Mary, that you feel that if God is turning the
eye of His mercy upon me, He wills to renew your life y and
as dead to all fleshly impulse do you cast yourself into that
ship of Holy Church. And be always discreet in your conver-
sations. You will be able to have the actual cell little ; but
I wish you to have the cell of the heart always, and always
carry it with you. For as you know, while we are locked
therein enemies can do us no wrong. Then every act you
shall do will be guided and ordered of God. Also, I beg
you that you ripen your heart with holy and true prudence ;
and that your life be an example to worldly men by your never
conforming to the world's customs. May that generosity
toward the poor and that voluntary poverty which you have

TO MASTER RAIMONDO OF CAPUA 351

always practised, be renewed and refreshed in you with true
and perfect humility. Do not slacken in these, for any dignity
or exaltation that God may give you, but descend more deep
into that Valley of Humility, rejoicing in the table of the
Cross. There receive the food of souls : embracing the
Mother, humble, faithful, and continual prayer, and holy vigil :
celebrating every day, unless for some special reason. Flee
idle and light talking, and be and show yourself mature in your
speech and in every way. Cast from you all tenderness for
yourself and all servile fear ; for the sweet Church has no need
of such folk, but of persons cruel to themselves and com-
passionate to her. These are the things which I beg you to
study to observe. Also I beg you that you and Brother
Bartolomeo and Brother Tommaso and the Master should
gather together in your hands the book, and any writing of
mine that you might find, and do with them what you see will
be most to the honour of God : you and Misser Tommaso too
— things in which I found some recreation. I beg you also,
that so far as shall be possible to you, you be a shepherd and
ruler to this Family, as a father, keeping them in the joy of
charity and in perfect union ; that they be not scattered as
sheep without a shepherd. And I think to do more for them
and for you after my death than in my life. I shall pray the
Eternal Truth that He pour forth upon you others all pleni-
tude of grace and gifts which He may have given to my soul,
so that you may be lights placed in a candlestick. I beg you
to pray the Eternal Bridegroom that He make me manfully
fulfil His obedience, and pardon me the multitude of my ini-
quities. And I beg you that you pardon me every disobedi-
ence, irreverence, and ingratitude which I showed to you or
committed against you, and all pain and bitterness which I may
have caused you : and the slight zeal which I have had for our
salvation. And I ask you for your blessing.

Pray earnestly for me, and have others pray, for the love of

352 LETTERS OF CATHERINE BENINCASA

Christ crucified. Pardon me, that I have written you words
of bitterness. I do not write them, however, to cause you
bitterness, but because I am in doubt, and do not know what
the Goodness of God will do with me. I wish to have done
my duty. And do not feel regret because we are separated one
from the other in the body ; although you would have been
the very greatest consolation to me, greater are my consolation
and gladness to see the fruit that you are bearing in Holy
Church. And now I beg you to labour yet more zealously, for
she never had so great a need : and do you never depart for
any persecution without permission from our lord the Pope.
Comfort you in Christ sweet Jesus, without any bitterness.
I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of
God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.

NOTE

The text used for these translations is that of the edition of St,
Catherine's Works by Girolamo Gigli (1707). The excellent notes
by Father Burlamacchi in this edition have been freely consulted.
Other books useful to the student of St. Catherine are as follows :
The Leggenda, or Life of the Saint, written by her Confessor the
Blessed Raimondo of Capua, of which an Italian translation is given
in the first volume of Gigli's edition ; La Leggenda Minor r, by Father
Tommaso Caffarini (ed. Grottanelli) ; Lettere dei Discepoli di Santa
Caterina, a collection published by Grottanelli at the end of the
Leggenda Minore ; Processus Gontestationum super Sanctitate et Doctrina
B. Gatherinae de Senls ; Chronicles of Siena, by Andrea Dei, Angelo
Tura, Neri Donato, found in the fifteenth volume of Muratori,
Italicarum Rerum Scriptores. The best Life in modern Italian is
that by Cardinal Capecelatro, and the English Life by Mother
Augusta Theodosia Drane has also been of service.

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Catherine

Saint Catherine of Siena as seen in her

BX 4700 . C4 A3 1911

Catherine, 1347-1380

Saint Catherine of Siena as
seen in her letters

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